Courage and Faith in Staying Put

Note: On Tuesdays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod , owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.

Today’s lectionary first reading from Acts 16 tells us of Paul and Silas, praying and singing in prison, when an earthquake rattles the place to its foundation, throwing open the doors and breaking chains. The jailer awakes and is about to kill himself because he is sure everyone has escaped. Then Paul shouts: “Do no harm to yourself; we are all here.”

Why didn’t...