Well, it finally happened. The basketball group I play with on Tuesday & Thursday morning descended into fisticuffs this week. On top of a heated discussion over a foul call, two guys started calling each other names and the next thing we know one of them is in a headlock but with one arm free to throw punches. A few of us pulled them apart, and things diffused quickly, but it set an ugly tone for the morning.

How angry does it make you to be taunted or called names? Does anybody actually enjoy being mocked or insulted? A lot of people are self-deprecating, but very few of us can handle well being made fun of. Something that jumped out at me about the passage that I'm preaching on this Sunday is that, on top of Jesus' physical pain as he's tortured and then hung on the cross, the mockery and derision that surrounds him is astounding and relentless. The jeers are ugly, but most of them are also ironically true. I look forward to working our way through the passage,

- Rev. Dave Dorst