Minor Myers Quotes

Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

The subjects of this practice of inclusivity are first the poor and outcast. This is articulated both generally, in terms of Jesus’ ministry to the “crowd,” and specifically, in terms of episodes involving the disabled (2: 1ff.; 10: 45ff.), the ritually unclean (1: 45ff.; 5: 25ff.), the socially marginalized (2: 15ff.; 7: 24ff.); and women and children (10: 1ff.). This solidarity is perhaps best represented in the first episode of the passion narrative (above, 12, B, i), in which Jesus is pictured residing at the house of a leper, and there teaches that one woman's act of compassion outweighs all the pretensions to faithfulness of his own disciples (14: 3–9). Because it is often raised in political readings of the Gospel, the question must be addressed: Does Mark's story portray Jesus as the author of a “mass movement?” This might be suggested not only by his clear “preferential option” for the poor of Palestine, but the evident class bias in the narrative. There are those who would see some of Jesus’ “popular” actions, such as the wilderness feedings (above, 6, D, ii) or the procession on Jerusalem, as indicative of mass organizing. But we must keep in mind that Mark's discipleship narrative articulates a definite strategy of minority political vocation. That is, Jesus creates a community that is expected to embrace the messianic way regardless of how the masses respond to the “objective conditions for revolution.” In what sense, then, do we understand Jesus’ solidarity with the poor?

Judah were settled in Babylonia in 586, where they developed new rituals that allowed them to survive the absence of the Temple. In fact, because of their rapid absorption of Babylonian culture, only a minority of the exiles opted to return to Jerusalem when afforded the opportunity

late 630s ce, building in that city two of Islam’s holiest sites: the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. From this point forward, Jews became—as they would remain throughout the Middle Ages—a small minority subject to the rule

For example, a common conventional treatment for many autoimmune conditions is steroids, perhaps in the form of prednisone. Steroids suppress the immune system, so the reasoning is that they will work to calm an overactive immune system and get it down to a normal level so that it will stop attacking your own tissue. There are two problems with this approach, however. First, prednisone has a number of problematic side effects, as you saw. Second, when the prednisone suppresses your immune system, it doesn’t necessarily get it down to a normal level—it might suppress it down to below a normal level, so that you are dangerously vulnerable to threats a healthy immune function would be able to shake off, even such seemingly minor threats as a cold virus or some bacteria clinging to poorly washed food. That’s why people on immunosuppressants often have to be unusually careful about contact with children, being in a crowd, flying, and other situations where they might be exposed to illness or infection.