"Nevertheless"

    One thing I know is that there is no one perfect.     Not me. Not you.   It is always easy to point a finger or say harsh words instead of having a heart of compassion and lifting up another when they are down.   Jesus is the only perfect One and He said "let him without sin cast the first stone."      He said to take the plank out of your own eye before pointing out the speck in another's.   He went first to those in the most desperate need... the outcasts of society... the diseased, the broken, the homeless, those with foul habits and filthy language, those that lived socially incorrect lives...people that most of us would avoid.      You know.... those sinners.   He wasn't offended by them.   He is not offended by you.   He loved them.    He loves us.     He never said "well I hope you have learned your lesson be...

      Gardens are amazing places... they are places of color and beauty, perfumes.   A delight to the eyes, ears and nose... they are a place of refuge and peace. It doesn't surprise me that God created a wonderful  garden for Himself and placed within it his most beautiful creations. The Garden of Eden was full of life. The tree of life stood in the center of it. It must have been lush and new like spring all the time... no brown leaves, no dead undergrowth... just color and life unceasingly.     It must have been a place that God treasured and held close... a place where He could come and spend time with His creation and take delight in what He had made. But, you know the story. Adam & Eve in the garden, and they blew it. Ate the fruit... invited evil into their innocent lives... and into God's garden. Of course, the minute they heard God calling, they ran and tried to hide. They tried to fi...