How do people treat God's spokespersons, prophets, and teachers? Not well, to be sure. Isaiah used a parable of a vineyard to describe Israel's infidelity and God's disappointment with them. God lavished kindness on the people and asked only for the fruits of the harvest. This of course symbolized justice and good works. Since they refused to do so, God intended to uproot and level the vineyard. Matthew used the same parable - with some changes - to describe the rejection of Jesus. These parables are in a sense about us. It is easy to give God lip service - a lot of good talk - but often we fall far short in showing those words in concrete ways. The political and economic systems that we build are not just, and the cultures that we create are anything but a reflection of God. We have been given so much by God - how can we give back? Each day we are given countless opportunities to serve and to make the world a better place.

Paul exhorts us to rejoice always. That is sometimes difficult, especially when we are dealing with life's difficulties. Everything depends on our attitude and what we fill ourselves with: whatever is good, holy, true, beautiful, praiseworthy, and honorable should be our daily 'food and drink.' We top that off with gratitude. If we are grateful, it is very difficult to complain or be angry and depressed. What is there to be grateful for? We could make a long list, but the best is that the Lord is near, as Paul assures us.