Passion Sunday and this...
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Passion Sunday and this lesson are all about God's surprising ways of taking care of us; he makes good out of evil, strength out of weakness. Martin Luther offered this profound insight about the ways of God: "For what is good for us is hidden, and that so deeply that it is under its opposite. Thus our life is hidden under death love for ourselves under hate for ourselves... salvation under damnation, heaven under hell... And universally our every assertion of anything good is hidden under the denial of it, so that faith may have its place in God, who is a negative essence and goodness and wisdom and righteousness" (Luther's Works, Vol. 25, pp. 382-383).
Luther's words and the reality depicted in the Third Servant Song of this lesson verify the Russian poet Boris Pasternak's claim: "Surprise is the greatest gift which life can grant." Ralph Waldo Emerson made a similar observation: "Life is a series of surprises and would not be worth taking or keeping if it were not." Neurobiology verifies that living with the surprises of God is likely to bring joy and make life meaningful and good, for in these instances the prefrontal cortex of the brain is exercised and is in turn bathed with the amphetamine-like brain chemical dopamine (Daniele C. Turner, Cerebral Cortex [August, 2004]).
Luther's words and the reality depicted in the Third Servant Song of this lesson verify the Russian poet Boris Pasternak's claim: "Surprise is the greatest gift which life can grant." Ralph Waldo Emerson made a similar observation: "Life is a series of surprises and would not be worth taking or keeping if it were not." Neurobiology verifies that living with the surprises of God is likely to bring joy and make life meaningful and good, for in these instances the prefrontal cortex of the brain is exercised and is in turn bathed with the amphetamine-like brain chemical dopamine (Daniele C. Turner, Cerebral Cortex [August, 2004]).
