This isn’t to say that He gives us what we want every time we pray. God is a good Father, not a genie. He’s not there to do our will; we’re here to do His. His ways are not our ways, nor are His thoughts our thoughts. Those ways and thoughts of His are often confusing and puzzling. At least they are to me.

The “social media” of the ancient world was coinage. Emperors inscribed on coins various things to promote themselves, call attention to their great deeds, and especially to show their victories in battle. From these coins we can see useful comparisons between how Paul describes Jesus and the victorious triumphs of Roman emperors and generals.

I was blessed to visit Philippi for the first time this past May. Though I had been on several pilgrimages in the footsteps of Saint Paul before, I had never walked among the ruins of this location. In the weeks since I visited, I have found myself reading and studying more and more about the history of this place — a history that proves extremely important in better understanding the letter Paul writes to the small Christian community there.

A few weeks back, we read the beginning of Romans 12, where we heard Paul’s exhortation to not be conformed to this world, to not let it squeeze us into its way of thinking, nor to allow ourselves to be squeezed into its way of thinking. But don’t most of us do that all the time?! Today, as we ponder Augustine’s rich insight, we see what’s at stake.