You can't believe everything you read

And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. John 1:12

And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,

the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,

the Spirit of counsel and might,

the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.  Isaiah 11:2

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.  John 1: 5

So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and He healed them.  Matthew 4:24

So my stuffed-full brain of Costa Rican reading has lead from the fictional but very real darkness of the Spanish Civil War to the much closer in geography to the borderlands rife with rifles and grudges to the very real ugly and documented racial darkness of the “separate but equal” world of my lifetime to back home again.  And the reading continues.

TUCSON - The driver who Pima County Sheriff's officials say fatally struck a pedestrian this morning has been arrested, and both men have been identified.

At about 6 a.m. this morning, PCSD deputies arrived at a reported collision near Rudasill Road and La Canada to find 54-year-old Peter Morse suffering from life-threatening injuries after being struck by a motorist, according to a news release form the department. Morse was transported to UMC were he later died.

• 54-year-old Peter Morse is the father of one of my heart-children.  We sat many a dusty Mexicali afternoon in the shade of José and Guadelupe’s tin-roofed trash-scrap church in watching the children bounce a soccer ball back and forth.

• A virulent email designed to slice and dice the receiver’s heart was received by someone I love.

• Con profundo dolor quiero comunicarles que esta manana, a las 10, mi mami fue llamada a la presencia del Senor. Tan pronto como tengamos los detalles del funeral se los estare comunicando. -Lisandro Restrepo

• A simple and sweet phrase in a newsletter that says so much more: Lynn and I left for Europe on June 15th, so there will not be a personal note on this letter, but know that I appreciate your prayers and support.  The bucket list as Lynn says goodbye after a weary battle with chemotherapy.

And to the centurion Jesus said, ‘Go back, then; let this be done for you, as your faith demands.’ And the servant was cured at that moment. Matthew 8:13

The faith of the centurion.  A heathen faith.  Not so up on on all of the theological details that the Southern Baptists are haggling out this week with as “tensions are expected to escalate Tuesday as church leaders descend on New Orleans.”  Is this really why Christ came to earth so that as church leaders gather in an achingly needy and hurting community, they are infighting over “blatantly semi-Pelagian” theology?

But he understood what was important, that the darkness cannot overcome the light. Sir, I am not worthy to have you under my roof; just give the word and my servant will be cured. For I am under authority myself, and have soldiers under me; and I say to one man: “Go,” and he goes; to another: “Come here,” and he comes; to my servant: “Do this,” and he does it.’

Oh LORD, might I have this faith.  A faith that demands the truth.  That demands reality.  And does not settle for appearances.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your Name. May your kingdom come, and your will be done, on earth as in heaven.