Do you see me as your personal savior? What do you mean by this? For this same word is widely used in your culture of individualism, and is normally understood to mean for you alone, for your exclusive use. Is this the impression you want to give about your relationship with me? Doesn’t this imply a reversal of our actual roles? Isn’t it you who is bought with a price and you are not your own? Isn’t it you who is to follow me, laying down your life and picking up your cross? Isn’t it you who refers to me as Lord, and not the other way around?

Did you know that white light is actually a combination of colors and that a prism will separate it into the visible spectrum? This is common knowledge. Do you divide people into a small number of fixed categories, defined by the way they are not like you? Yet even among your friends don’t you notice subtle variations even within a group, that people take different paths, and arrive at slightly different positions? Does it make it hard to judge people if they won’t fit in their assigned categories? Extend this principle to those you disagree with.

What do you look for when you look for the Kingdom of God? Magnificent heavenly glory? That is what people were looking for in a messiah, and most of them overlooked me because I didn’t fit the profile. Instead I spoke in familiar images of everyday things. Lost coins, sowing and reaping wheat, candles and bushels, sheep and fish. Where is the glory in that? Yet there were a few that got my message and knew that I was speaking the words of life.

What is the basis for your hope? This term refers to your orientation toward the future. What is your expectation concerning things to come, even without knowing the details? This depends on your view of the nature of the world and your place in it. This is in turn influenced by your previous experience. If you live with the awareness that in your life so far you have been the recipient of grace and favor and mercy, this is a valid basis to expect that these things will continue.