Maybe Happy Ending. That’s the provocative title of a Broadway musical that one six Tony awards this past June, including Best Musical. When I first heard that the plot involved two robots that fall in love, I was initially skeptical about seeing it. But two Holy Trinity members told me, “you have to see it. It’s moving and beautiful.” By the way, a Broadway in Chicago touring production will be here fall of 2026.

I still remember the phone call. Last Thanksgiving night. Mike called to say that his wife, Theresa, had died unexpectedly her sleep. Theresa, my friend of thirty years. Mike was the one who had health challenges and I was certain Theresa would outlive him.

Nobody’s immune. I don’t know if the birds do it. I don’t know if the bees do it. But we sure do. We look down on others. We pass judgment. We sneer. We gossip. We find fault. We spruce up our resumes. We curate ourselves on social media. All to puff up our fragile egos. And to look better than other people.

When we accept that there is no villain, that we’re all villains, then the parable stops being about a Pharisee and a Tax Collector. The focus becomes their prayers. One prays to repent, and he lays himself bare before God. The Pharisee prays a different prayer, and it honestly just sounds incredibly pompous. I couldn’t find a way to relate to it at first. But recently, as I spent time in prayer, I realized that I did relate to the Pharisee.