picture by Howie R Thank you!  These two tiny words, with only five consonants and three vowels, are superpowers in our relationships.  They let another person know that you see them and value their contribution.  We don’t need a relationship with another person to say, “Thank you.”  The words themselves do not require intimate knowledge about someone. They only require initiative on our part.  When we receive some service or kindness, whether it is from someone we know or do

She came uninvited to the church leaders’ private dinner with Jesus.

Nothing makes us feel more helpless than when one of our family members suffers.  That's what the woman in today's story is facing..  Her daughter is suffering. (Matthew 15:22.)  Both Matthew and Mark tell this story, and both identify the daughter’s problem as demon possession.  While it could have been literally true, often people of this time used this label to explain what we call seizures.  For me, it doesn’t matter what the diagnosis was; I get everything I need to know

Where has she come from as she enters the Temple?  Home duties?  Family responsibilities?  She is a widow, a woman alone, unsupported.  We don’t know if there is a son looking after her, or perhaps she lives with her daughter’s family, as Peter’s mother-in-law did.  She walks to the Court of the Gentiles, the only place where women were allowed.  Does she even notice Jesus’ teaching?  Perhaps not.  She has one mission—to bring her offering.  She is used to the rich people who