As I mentioned two weeks ago in my sermon, one of the best parts of my job is “sermon research.” It serves as an excuse to dive deeply into trivial pursuits without guilt (yes, that was a phrase before the popular Canadian board game was unveiled in 1981).

Just this past week I tripped over an example in exploring the phrase “balm in Gilead,” in research for my September 25th sermon. Unfortunately, it was an example I could not seamlessly work into the sermon,