". . . you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faith . . .." 


How true is that? You read, and pray, and maybe even blog, but what's your attitude when you merely have to be patient for five minutes?  Not so good here. 


There is a strain of behavioral psychology which the untutored (that would be me) summarize as "fake it til you make it." In other words, it's what you do, and not who you are, and it's definitely NOT the thought that counts.  Jesus teaches us otherwise. It's interesting that today's Gospel Reading for Tuesday, Proper 8, in Year Two, goes on to emphasize the importance of righteous living, but the emphasis is on the spiritual nature of the person involved in the undertaking. 


It's not so much that the Gospel commands us to do more than merely go through the motions (although it does do that), but that it tells us that the motions are empty, meaningless, and, in a sense, impossible unless salvation renews us.