Remember the contrast between salt and yeast from last week? Salt is good (cleanses), yeast is bad (puffs up). Yet in Matthew 13 and Luke 13, Jesus explains that the kingdom of heaven is like yeast. How can this be? Many words and what they describe are neither good or bad in themselves; they become good or bad depending on who is associated with them and to what purpose. Pride that puffs up our ego is bad. But the Word of God is also like yeast because it is living and active, making its way everywhere until everyone is touched by it. Thus Jesus said at the end of Mark’s gospel, “Proclaim the good news to all creation.”