If I were a non-Christian looking from the outside in, I don't think it would be unreasonable to think that American Christians' two highest priorities right now are keeping the government from taking away our guns and stopping gay people from getting married.

Fresh from the jarring experience of Yom Kippur prayer, I find myself wishing that we would struggle with sin more than we do.

For Christians today reading it as insiders, the text may evoke nods of approval at some memorable statements by Jesus. Start poking around a bit, though, and a host of questions arises.

I began to look more closely at what "living a good life" could possibly mean in a world that was so full of suffering, so full of greed.