One of our favorite things about the Scriptures is their ability to speak into our present circumstances. That's why we take a perennial trip into the ancient words and phrases we find there to shed new light on how powerful the wisdom of Scripture is to give us insight for our lives today.

In a postmodern world, ancient wisdom becomes more important, not less. In fact, in the process of trying to discover what is ultimately true and important for each of us, the ancient journey of Lech Lecha is the only viable path.  Paradoxically, the journey to find ourselves must pass through the place of losing our self-centeredness, for it is only when we lose our false self that we find our true self. 

Aaron takes a dive into shevirah, a word that can mean something broken or even shattered. Yet, though shattering is not pleasant, there is a beautiful perfection God brings out of imperfect situations, and there is definitely a beauty and a wonder that comes out of things that are broken and shattered.

The modern tendency seems to be for people to increasingly prefer to hold to their own echo chambers and to only listen to the people who agree with their own opinions. However, as Gene points out, Ancient Wisdom invites us to listen to "both these and those" and to value the different perspectives and inputs of those we may not agree with. 

Are we supposed to be people who engage in self-love or self-sacrifice? As Gene shares in this message, not only do self-love and self-sacrifice go together, we really can't be the kind of people we should be without engaging in both.