While Jesus’ followers often wanted answers, he was more likely to challenge them with questions and with parables that open up questions like how can I be neighbor.

There’s an analogous negative and positive revelation, the focus of the rest of this column: we are one with the wild.

We boast of our trust in God on our dollar bill. In our Pledge of Allegiance we proclaim that we are “one nation, under God.” (Does the fact that we are hardly one nation these days call into question our being under God?)

I was often happy as a kid, but as I grew up I more often felt good about feeling gloomy. I loved profoundly depressing literature. Surely those who were happy were shallow.

Gay and lesbian members of our congregation have told me that they hesitated in coming to our church because of the connotations “evangelical” has accrued.

So here I am, a latter-day Grinch, to proclaim as well the essential sinfulness of us