(Mark 8:22-26 TLB) “I can’t see!” And it’s only getting worse. I’ve been grumbling about this for nearly a year. Finally, someone who can actually fix my problem listens. My brand new, uber sweet, uber patient ophthalmologist.  And just like that, she schedules me for cataract surgery the following week. I love her. As excited…

Matthew 5:2-3, Mark 5) Arriving at a quiet place, he sat down and taught his climbing companions . . . I love how The Message translation ushers us into the scene. Welcomes us to a still spot on a hill near the Sea of Galilee. Describes the disciples. Climbing companions. So intimate. Inhaling the hillside…

(John 14:31-17:1 TLB) Turning to His disciples, Jesus bids them, “Come, let’s be going.”   And so at dusk, after the last supper, they set off on a path to the Garden of Gethsemane. Winding their way through vineyards. Although His disciples are used to Jesus’ on-the-spot agricultural realities (“Look at the lilies, they . .…