Do you believe in magic words? Children are taught that ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ are magic words. These are terms that facilitate social graces, and you notice and are disturbed by those who refuse to use them, so to say them frequently is a good habit. Are there ‘magic words’ in other areas, such as learning? How about, ‘I could be wrong about that’, and ‘tell me more’. Are you truly open to learning if you are not open to re-examine your current understanding of a subject? Are you defensive about your current positions?

Do you think of me as a homeless person? I said that foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of Man had nowhere to lay his head, meaning I did not have a fixed location to call home. And yet how many accounts do you read of me staying with religious leaders, or tax collectors, or other sinners? I lived in a culture where hospitality was taken seriously, and I accepted invitations from across the entire social spectrum. These opportunities for community and fellowship were important enough to record in my word. Would you have me as your dinner guest and put me up for the night?

Do you like waterfalls? Who doesn’t? The objective explanation is that a watercourse reaches a discontinuity and gravity takes over. This doesn’t explain why people drive great distances and hike miles just to see them. Do you live in a world that is material only, or in a world that includes beauty and mystery and wonder? Even people who are complete skeptics go to see waterfalls, and sunsets and mountains and lakes. Their behavior contradicts their stated worldview. The heavens (and the earth) declare the glory of the Lord.

Are you familiar with the problem of evil? Skeptics offer this as a challenge to believers, saying that if I am benevolent and all powerful, why is there pain and suffering in the world? This is a tricky question, but it can be answered with the problem of good in this manner: if I don’t exist and the world drifts according to random events, why is the world so favorable to life, and why has life flourished, with people replenishing and subduing the earth successfully? In the beginning I said that the world was good, and it still is.