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As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” But Jesus turned and rebuked them. (‭Luke‬ ‭9‬:‭51--55) The cheek of James and John! They are standing with Jesus, God in the flesh, and they want to know if Jesus needs a little help :  “Do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven?” “Jesus, it was  great when you healed the keeper, and the whole casting out demons stunt was quite interesting. But come on, Jesus, we’re going to have to call out the big guns for this job.” The look on Jesus must have been priceless!  Copyright © Chola Mukanga 2015

Usually when I read the Bible I come across passages that makes me laugh. There's a lot of humour in scripture it turns out. This one is quite funny : As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and us, crying out, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation." And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And it came out that very hour. (Acts 16:16-18 ESV) As always, the humour lies in the irony. In this case, the girl was correct. More funny is that it annoyed Paul - for the right reason of course. But one can't help but laugh!

Karamazov was drunk when he learned of his wife’s death, and some say he exclaimed joyfully, raising his hands to heaven: “Lord, now let Your servant depart in peace.” But according to others, he wept, sobbing like a little boy so that people felt sorry for him despite the disgust he aroused in them. It is quite possible that they all were right, that he rejoiced in his regained freedom and wept for the woman from whom he had been freed, both at once. In most cases, people, even the most vicious, are much more naive and simple-minded than we assume them to be. And this is true of ourselves.. From Fyodor Dostoevsky's breathtaking masterpiece, the Brothers Karamazov . I truly enjoyed reading this extraordinary book that certainly makes for compulsory reading. That said at 1050 pages it requires some investment. I started reading it in August and I only finished in October, inter-spaced with other books, as I tend to do for larger works! There's no doubt to its value - ...