I recently had a visit from a young lady who attends my local church congregation, and we talked for a while. During our conversation, she shared that she did not remember her father ever telling her he loved her. I immediately had a flashback to when I was growing up. I could relate, because my family did not hug each other or express love.

I recently attended a family gathering where one of my relatives asked another, “How did you find yourself” or “not lose yourself” while rearing three children? I did not hear the response, but the question has stuck with me. This relative feels that she has lost who she is because she is a wife and mother. To her, being happy is not connected with doing her best as a wife and mother, but rather with “finding herself.”

With the election of Francis I of Argentina as leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics, questions abound. Will he liberalize his church, perhaps relaxing the celibacy requirement for priests and seeking a greater Vatican role in the political life of Europe and beyond? Will he be the final pontiff before Christ’s return? Was his election in fact predicted by a medieval monk?

Nothing in this life is perfect, is it? Yet, many strive for perfection. Olympic athletes strive for perfect 10 scores. No mistakes or errors. But what about perfection in behavior? Is perfection required of a Christian?

You’ve probably seen a house of cards. Some people can make amazing structures out of simple playing cards, leaning them together by fours until they have used a whole deck or more. However, no matter how fantastic the finished work is, we all know that nothing holds it together; the whole “building” is fragile and will eventually fall. Such is the nature of any edifice that lacks cohesive power: without a binding force, it will come apart, often with disastrous results. Thus we get our cliché: “It will fall like a house of cards!”