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It never ceases to amaze me the way kids keep an internal ledger. When it comes to who did what and how we responded and who lost screen time or who got more or did or did not do their chores or worksheets–somehow they are meticulous at keeping track of perceived slights. “Why am I only getting punished? He did it, too!” I often wonder about this vigilance toward keeping the scales balanced. Is it really about fairness? Could it also be the need for explanation? For order? For simply making sense of the world?

We get some biblical whiplash this Sunday. Last Sunday we observed Jesus on the mountaintop—a wonderful, Broadway-style production with costume changes, offstage voices, and guest stars brought in from previous productions of God’s glory. Now we flash back to the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, encountering him immediately after his baptism, still dripping wet, and headed into the wilderness.

I have two sons, two years apart in age. When they were babies and toddlers, I was overcome with anxiety. For about two years, I had difficulty functioning, triggered mostly by news of climate change. Of course, climate change is a worrisome fact of our lives these days, one we should put all our problem-solving powers toward addressing. But I’m less anxious about it lately—not because it’s any less of a problem, but because my children are teenagers now. Their being less vulnerable in the world has me feeling less vulnerable in the world.