What Mark Do We Bear?

A. Unabashed Pacifist:

I shrink from war, less from fear than from horror at the blasphemous affront to God. We multiply Cain’s crime beyond measure. He was a petty criminal compared to our nation-states, his sin trivial when set against ours, the blood he spilled an insignificant drop poured into the rivers we have shed. If he was a marked man, what are we?

B. Unabashed Christian:

Holy One,

You tell me it is better to chase rainbows than to chase riches.
You suggest that catching fireflies gives greater satisfaction than capturing flags or headlines.
You say I do better to watch the growth of grass or flowers or children than that of power and wealth.
You remind me that I hear more inspiration from wind or water than I will ever hear from preachers or politicians.
You show me that I receive greater joy from an evening with friends than I ever get from an evening spent with a television or a computer.
You put birds and bees in front of me to demonstrate that their natural flight evokes greater wonder in me than any human technology can.
I see a pattern.
I bow in reverence.
I acknowledge your glory.
Amen

C. Un-quoting Jesus:

“Practice makes sense for you, Mose, but in my case perfection comes naturally.”

[It might have been genetic in His case, but He never said this.]

D. Blog: Happy as a Clam???

Meaning: Very happy and content.

Origin:
An early version is 'as happy as a clam at high water'. Clams are free from the attentions of predators at high tide, so perhaps that's a reason to consider them happy then. The earliest known citation doesn't mention water though. That's in Harvardiana, 1834:

"That peculiar degree of satisfaction, usually denoted by the phrase 'as happy as a clam'."

The phrase originated in the US and possibly before 1834. In 1848 the Southern Literary Messenger - Richmond, Virginia expressed the opinion that the phrase "is familiar to everyone".

[adapted from www.phrases.org.uk]