My daughter, Lydia, turns 16 at the end of April. She has her temps right now. Very soon she will have her real driver’s license. I can tell when she’s been driving my car because the steering wheel is lower, the seat is closer (even for me), and the rearview mirror is tilted.

After I get over the bruised knees of trying to get into the car, I raise the steering wheel, move back the seat and readjust the rearview mirror. But, I’m fine with tilting the mirror back to where it needs to be. That means she was using it.

In John’s gospel, there are times when Jesus intentionally kept his identity hidden, at least initially. Think, for instance, about his long conversation with the woman at Jacob’s well in John chapter 4. Jesus and she talked about a bunch of things, and Jesus (whether she realized it right away or not) was ministering to her soul. Finally, she said expectantly, “I know that Messiah is coming.” It wasn’t until that point that Jesus said, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.” In other gospel accounts, you remember how many different times Jesus told either his disciples or the people he had healed not to tell anyone that he was the Christ—“Hush, hush.”

The title on the web banner was enticing: “Fight Back With Un-Fake News!” More than enticing, it struck one of our society’s recently exposed nerves. In March 2017, 60 Minutes also ran a segment investigating the production of fake news. The segment showed how writers design stories to look official and believable. One programmer demonstrated how the number of “Likes” on Facebook can be manipulated to make fake news stories look much, much more popular than they actually are. People fall for the trick: If so many appear to be reading it, it must be true. Sadly, this is our world. Photoshopped pictures alter reality. Breaking news is written on a blog from a couch in a man cave. What to believe?

This week finally starts soccer practice for our WLS girls. I’ve been coaching girls’ soccer for a long time. I know how these fifth through eighth grade girls behave … and misbehave.

Eye rolls and deep sighs are constant temptations for all pre-teen and teenage girls.

“Take him away!”—three words that showed the truth of the prophecy of Isaiah: “He was despised and rejected by mankind” (53:3). “Take him away!”—three words that showed the truth of Jesus’ prediction that he would be handed over to the Gentiles and crucified. “Take him away!”—three words that showed the truth of St. John’s observation: “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him” (Jn 1:10).

A young man was talking to an elderly gentleman and said, “Wow! You’ve seen a lot of change in your lifetime!”

The elderly man replied, “Yep! And I was against every one of them!”

Does that describe you?

In Old Testament times, God summoned his people to Jerusalem three times a year, in pilgrimage. They were to appear before the Lord at the three high festivals—Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. You know from the gospels that Jesus himself made that trip a few times, as well as one last time.

Today we begin our annual pilgrimage of sorts. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of our 40-day trek through the Passion History of our Lord, visiting familiar places along the way and culminating with us gathered, in spirit, in the upper room, at the foot of the cross, and at the entrance of the empty tomb. Forty days—for the 40 days in the wilderness, at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, when he battled temptation to remain sinless for us.

Moses came down from Mt. Sinai after he had been meeting with the Lord for the past forty days (Exodus 34:28-29). He carried two stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments. This is the second time this has happened. The first time Moses came down from Mt. Sinai, he smashed the two tablets after finding the Israelites worshiping a golden calf. The first tablets were carved by the finger of God. This time, the Lord instructed Moses to “chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones” (Exodus 34:1). Since Moses broke the first set, it was natural that he should replace them with new ones.

This time, when Moses came down the mountain, the Israelites had behaved themselves in Moses’ absence. They were gathered to hear what God had to say to them.

When someone asks, “How are you?” You will usually reply, “Fine” or “Good.”

If you ask me how I’m doing, I will reply, “Fantastic!” My dad will answer, “Better than I deserve.” I know one pastor who will always respond, “I’m living the dream!”

But what if you aren’t fantastic or fine? What if you feel like God is pounding on you because of what you deserve? What if your life seems more like a nightmare than a dream?