A poet described a world in which the best lack all conviction and the worst are full of passionate intensity. Would you want to live in such a world? Do you? Do you see the wicked doing evil with great enthusiasm? Do you think you would be able to persuade them to turn it down? The only half of the equation that you are able to influence is your own. Do you do good with the same degree of fervor that the evil do evil? They may grow weary of sin on their own.

Do you recall my promise that if you seek you will find? This is cause to rejoice! Do you remember when you were a seeker? Are you still? Do you encounter others who are as well? Seeking can be a messy process and remaining in contact with such people will expose you to stories of false paths and false destinations, bitterness against their past experiences, and incorrect or incomplete views of reality. This may be discouraging to you but don’t give up hope. Keep the conversation going, because my promise of seeking and finding applies to them just as much as it did to you. Be patient.

A good military commander understands the value of discipline. He also knows the importance of good morale. Do these goals seem to be in conflict? Do undisciplined troops ever have good morale? You see passages in the Bible comparing believers to soldiers. Do you take this to imply that I am a military commander? Do you think I care about discipline? Do you think that I also care about morale? I have called you to rejoice. I wouldn’t expect this to be important to you if it wasn’t important to me as well. This isn’t something that can be issued as a command.

I told the story of the Good Samaritan to a Jewish audience, and as you are aware, the Jews despised the Samaritans. The story concerned ‘a certain man’, so the story does not make clear whether the man who was attacked was Jewish, or Samaritan, or neither. Do you think the story would have more impact if the victim were clearly identified as Jewish? But this point is left vague for a reason. You may recall that this story was presented in response to the question, ‘who is my neighbor?’ The implied response is that whoever needs your help is your neighbor, and that is all that matters.