A Wide Variety of Things

The Truth will set you free.

How often do we hear or read this quote from today's gospel from John 8? It doesn't necessarily always come from a religious source. You know, the truth could be your own truth--not just something that somebody else has taught you. And how often do we see that quote in context?

Jesus said to those Jews who believed in him, “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

In the first place, He's not talking to just everybody; He's talking to those who believed in Him. And then, you can't just hear something somewhere, or think something up that you consider truth. To know the truth, you have to remain in His word. You have to be in His word if you want to be set free, and you have to remain there. It's not a quick fix.

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This was the first reading at Mass today. It's one of my favorites.

Of course, it's not exactly the same. I mean, the furnace was really white hot.

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And speaking of bunnies.

Remember this. I was a bit worried because we haven't had a sign since Christmas, but thank goodness we can still get presents with our fillings. I have to wonder a bit what it is that dentists put in Easter Baskets. Do they just abandon all pretense of concern about your child's teeth and give him the good stuff, or is the basket filled with novocaine and orthodontia?

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I took this blurry picture night before last when we got home. It was a beautiful sunset, but what really excited me was that there was a purple martin (not in the picture) examining my purple martin house. I didn't really expect to ever have martins in the birdhouse because I've never seen one in my yard before, so it made me very happy. I suspect it won't move in, though, because some other bird has been wreaking havoc with the birdhouse, but it was nice to have a visitor.

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So now the trunk of the fallen tree has become a sort of hanging garden of violets. Just to give you an idea of the size of that tree trunk, the violets are about even with my head. And remember what I wrote yesterday about the woods carpeted with flowers. I stopped this morning and took a picture. 

I was so intent on getting the picture that I didn't realize the sun was playing in the branches like that. This one might be better if you click and enlarge it.

And finally, a couple of things we saw on our walk today.

Shortly before I took the picture of the dogwood, we were harried by a large barking dog, but my excellent husband told him, "NO," in a very stern voice and he backed down. Thank goodness he didn't come along when I was walking by myself in the same area last week. I'm not a very convincing alpha dog.

AMDG

P.S. In proofreading this post, I realized that someone who doesn't know me might get the idea I actually think that there is such a thing as your own personal truth. Well, I don't.  JTC