Political Crisis in Nigeria: Causes and Cures

This year is to be a year of faith and I find myself reflecting a lot on what it means to follow Jesus. I have not been all that consistent in my life, even though I have been in the seminary and then in monastic life from the time I was fourteen years old. It took me a long time to begin to work out the various conflicts and personality kinks from my own family--if I have even worked them out by now! Most of the time I am peaceful in my following of the Lord Jesus. There are times when I still long to know Him more and to have even more personal experiences of Him.

A year of faith is a time to look once more at this relationship with God and with the Son of God and with God's Holy Spirit. We who follow Jesus are clear that there is only one God, yet three Persons. For me, this realization of the divine always begins with trying to know Jesus as He is given to me in the Bible, the Scriptures that reveal Him as He is.

Today many people do not believe that the Scriptures have any value at all, even less historical value. Historically, however, it seems fairly certain that Jesus, the Son of Mary, lived and worked around the time traditionally ascribed to Him. We only know about him from the New Testament writing, the Christian Scriptures. Yet once we start to know Him through these writings, he is a fascinating figure.