The good, the bad, and the ugly-turned-beautiful:

The Gospel is bad news before it is good news. It is the news that man is a sinner, to use the old word, that he is evil in the imagination of his heart, that when he looks in the mirror all in a lather what he sees is at least eight parts chicken, phony, slob. That is the tragedy. But it is also the news that he is loved anyway, cherished, forgiven, bleeding to be sure, but also bled for. That is the comedy. And yet, so what? So what if even in his sin the slob is loved and forgiven when the very mark and substance of his sin and of his slobbery is that he keeps turning down the love and forgiveness because he either doesn't believe them or doesn't want them or just doesn't give a damn? In answer, the news of the Gospel is that extraordinary things happen to him just as in fairy tales extraordinary things happen.

 -- Frederick Buechner,  

Telling the Truth: the Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy, and Fairytale

Happy Easter, all.

----------

Conversations:

• Andrea -- I see what you did there! Thanks for the censorship ;)
• Asea -- now I'm going to have to work on a nickname for you! ;) But oh YES to the whole avoiding-confrontation thing. This is my life exactly.
• BushMaid -- I totally agree with everything you said, and I have particularly felt that sentiment: "It can be a curse to care too much." Our weaknesses, however, are often also the same things that provide our strengths. There's a plus and a minus to just about every quirk, it seems. I take hope from that!
• Joy -- a beautiful comment, Joy! Thank you for reading. I did my undergraduate degree through Tabor College and my postgrad through the University of New England. Both schools have qualities that I really love. Feel free to email or hit me up on facebook if you have any questions about either uni.