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Presenting at the Art Institute

Every few months a friend of mine invites me to present Christianity in his class “Myth, Ritual and Magic” at the Art Institute of Sacramento. I love presenting in that context. The classes are filled with wonderful, interesting and diverse students. The student body is in fact so diverse there is little I can assume in terms of background knowledge. Most of the students in the class have little or no knowledge of the Bible. A highlight of the presentation for me each time is telling this group of people the story of the Prodigal Son from Luke 15. It is such a powerful story and to be able to witnesses the power of this story come alive for the students for the first time is truly a thrill.

If there is one thing I can count on in that student body it would be their approval and embrace of the concept of “love”. While diverse Americans may struggle to agree on whole hosts of things what it seems most can agree on, especially the young, is that love is good.

If I were to ask this group about Jesus most would express some positive ideas about him a lot of which I think is attributed to his reputation as being connected with love. Jesus was known as being accepting, eating with sinners, tax collectors and prostitutes, welcoming little children, forgiving sins, and giving the golden rule. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

Why Does Love Break Down?  Continue reading →