Even before sunrise, there were noticeable changes of air temperature as I walked along. I would be walking in a relatively comfortable wooded area, then hit the hotter air out in the open – perhaps it had blown down from the hills.
In Sunday’s Lectionary, Jesus tells his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” As Leonard Hofstadter says, “No, it’s not crazy it’s, uh, uh, it’s a paradox.” Strangely, this paradox of life and death does make sense as you begin to live it. Also, we see in the language of this whole passage how much the way of Jesus and his disciples is set against the prevailing culture. Maybe that time is coming again.