Last week I encouraged everyone to do a take-home assignment based on Galatians 5:19-23. I asked each of us to do an honest self-inventory to see where we are living faithfully by the Spirit and struggling with living by the flesh. That’s a pretty hard assignment if we take it seriously and give it the time and attention it deserves. Most of us are probably doing reasonably well in most areas most of the time, and we each have areas in which we struggle. Everything can be strained when we are tired and under stress. And for many of us, being tired and under stress are daily realities. That creates a constant challenge.

So what then to do when – not “if” but when – we fail?

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I spent this past week serving as a chaplain at Camp Wingmann. It is a great place and a lot of fun. But the reason it is always one of the very best weeks of the year for me is the extraordinary ways I see kids and counselors connecting with Jesus.

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Spring has become a season of thanksgiving; Mother’s Day, graduation Sunday, Memorial Day weekend, and Father’ Day. Each of those has its particular joy because that’s what thanksgiving does. So the first lesson today is just that. If you want to make your life better, thank God for everything for which you can think to thank him. And Thanksgiving is a helpful way to approach today’s Gospel, which is a wild story.

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