My friends,

I know it’s been so long since I’ve shared a new comic with you.  My renewal leave began on the day our current president was inaugurated, and we have mostly all been devastated in the meantime.  For my part, I stopped using social media, and I have decided I will no longer post Wesley Bros Comics on Facebook or Instagram, so I will only be sharing new content here and on my Patreon.  Social media has become too toxic for my well-being, and so I am focusing my mental and spiritual energy on in-person community, where we can talk face-to-face.

Perhaps that was the impulse behind this week’s comic.  I have been reflecting on the parables of the kingdom of heaven in the gospel of Matthew, and realizing how painful it can be to be a seed planted by God.  God tosses her seeds all over, indiscriminately.  God allows choking weeds and thorns to grow alongside the wheat.  God works the kingdom slowly, like yeast kneading into the dough.  The kingdom of God is here, and yet it requires patience. Forbearance. Mercy.

The kingdom of heaven will never come to fruition the way we want it to, until our will aligns with God’s will.  We align ourselves with empires, hoping a new king will impose the will and way of God.  And we are devastated by the ruin that comes with empire.  We long to be on the right side of history, but forget that the way of God is radical embrace of one’s enemy.  It is inherently sacrificial, inherently painful, inherently difficult.  And yet, inherently simple.

Love God. Love neighbor.  Who is my neighbor?  My neighbor includes my enemy, because we are each God’s children.  In loving some of God’s children, I cannot stop loving God’s other children – no matter how vile and violent they become.  I think it’s probably easier for most Christians to believe in the resurrection than it is to believe that anyone could actually love their enemy.  And yet, that was the whole point of the resurrection: the possibility of a new way of living and loving in this world.

I invite you to use this week’s comic as a prayerful reflection.  Find yourself in one of the images, and take an honest account of what has gotten you there.  Go slowly, panel by panel, and remember who God has been for you along your life’s journey.  Give thanks to God, and seek God’s will on earth as it is in heaven.  Chances are, that will begins with aligning your own heart, doing the work to remove the beam from your own eye, and leaning deeply into mercy and forgiveness.

Godspeed, my siblings in Christ.