Life In Greencastle

About a week ago, ABC aired an episode of its hit show Lost that left a lot of people scratching their heads. That’s what the show Lost does well, as is to be expected from a show that began with dozens of men, women and children falling out of a plane to a mysterious, hidden island where polar bears roam in a bamboo forest. But, at least for this one episode, it wasn’t the mysteries that left people talking. It was the answers. In one sweeping episode that took the audience back to “the beginning,” millions of people watching the show were given a modern day spin on the Book of Genesis . In fifty minutes, viewers got an eye-full of it all: a garden of life, an intimate look at an early Adam and Eve, promises, barriers, long-life, sibling rivalries, blessings, curses. And would you believe there was even a black darkness that stalked and roamed the island, expelled from the “light”? Such are the times that we live in: there is a growing interest in all thin...

Today is "Ascension of Jesus" day. Yes, I am serious. No, this is not something that Hallmark made up and promoted in order to sell more cards. "Ascension of Jesus" is a Christian day of celebration. ["Okay, Wes, but what is it all about?"] Well, it all began when Jesus came back from the dead. He - as those earliest of disciples tell us - literally came back to life ... in flesh and blood. His body showed the signs of his crucifixion; he had holes in his feet, wrists and a rather gaping hole in his side that Thomas stuck his inquisitive index finger into. Only, there was something different about Jesus' appearance - something glorious ... and dare we say, ghostly? The gospel accounts of our resurrected Lord suggest that he was able to move through walls, to appear and disappear. Yet, he wasn't a ghost. Thomas wasn't the only one to touch him and embrace him. Plus, the disciples saw him eating and drinking. Still, just abo...