What do you do that makes you better? The first thoughts that come to mind may be activities that you enjoy, but are you a better person after you do them? Studying anything will make you smarter, and this can be helpful, but it doesn’t automatically make you better. Your friends may have a better perspective on this question than you do. Do they see a trajectory of improvement in your life? Deep and enduring changes are difficult to accomplish, but are facilitated by consent. Have you ever seen ‘self-improvement projects’ that had no effect other than solidifying egocentricity?

Do you like riddles? I posed one to my critics concerning an Old Testament passage about David and his Lord and his son, and they could not comprehend it. Do you think of me as the light of the world? But I said that you are the light of the world, like a city on the side of a hill. Can both of these be true? A city has many people, so you don’t have to assume that light resides in one person. If I am right, how should you then live? Don’t put your light under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that it may give light to all who see it.

Do you think that all faiths other than the one you practice are of the devil? What about the Jews? I lived in a time of great spiritual diversity and encountered people from a wide variety of faiths. How did I handle this situation? I did tell the woman at the well that her faith practice was wrong, but for the most part I commended both the faith and the good deeds of others even when I did not agree with their doctrine. I did have some strong words for the leaders of my own tradition., but when a man gave me a wise answer I said he was not far from the Kingdom of God.

Do you make a distinction between natural and supernatural gifts from God? This is an artificial distinction and one that I do not make. For those who do it creates a two-tier hierarchy. Would you expect the ‘supernatural’ gifts to be more highly regarded among those who practice them? You don’t need yet another means to divide yourselves and confer honor and dishonor accordingly. When I walked among you what acts of service did I commend? I said that those who fed the hungry, visited those sick and in prison, and took in strangers were really doing it unto me.