Words to Live by

A recent seminary graduate with an advanced degree in sociology was called on to deliver a speech to a group of seniors in a retirement community. For what seemed like an eternity to some in the audience, the young man lectured the seniors on “The Art of Living.” When the talk was over, an eighty-eight-year-old man waited until everyone was gone but the twenty-five-year-old speaker. The senior then congratulated the lecturer for delivering a speech with such confidence and conviction. “Your style and presentation were very polished for a young man your age,” he said. “I applaud you for the effort. But I must tell you something that you’ll realize as you get older: You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

In today’s Gospel Lesson, Jesus tells the story of two men, one of whom is in the act of praising himself as he thinks God would praise him. And since he is in the Temple, he finds it convenient to let God know…