The brain is an amazing control room that regulates every aspect of our body, including maintenance of itself.  But beyond the around-the-clock internal life support system, the brain processes thoughts associated with innumerable intake sources involving smell, taste, touch, sight and sound.  Most of these generate pleasant or unpleasant responses, and many are used to protect the body as well as to nourish it.

A great part of our brain activity, however, is centered on interpreting communication using sight and sound.  Reading something causes us to judge it for accuracy or fairness, or even to compare it to our own life experiences.  Seeing things, be it real life or reproduced life, evokes similar responses.  Touch is added for emphasis, whether it be intimate, directive or hostile.

Basic human nature is that, upon meeting someone, we assess who they are and how we feel about them.  This relationship can progress either personally or as additional information is fed to us about the person or group.  As we get to know someone, we begin to build an expectation of how that person will react to what we say and do.  This is not a bad thing, necessarily, but can eventually cause a relationship to become stale or to deteriorate.

The greatest danger in communication is to presuppose what a person is thinking or how he/she will react.  And most of us do it.  Communication begins to breakdown when either party is offended about being second-guessed. It becomes further muddled when, in debate or argument, we don’t listen because we are already preparing a response before the other person finishes.  Add to that the need to be truthful, and it’s easy to see how conversations can break down quickly.

It is also human nature to assume that our side of the conversation is clear, accurate and well-thought. We dig in and tend to not want to concede any valuable points to the other side.  What can be done to improve our relationship with others?  Here’s three points to consider.

LISTEN - We don’t do it well.  Give the other person time to make their point, and sincerely listen to what they are saying.  Concentrate, and don’t begin drafting your response in your mind before you hear them out.  Believe me, you won’t forget what you were going to say.

So what if you get a long-winded character who seems to like to hear themselves speak.  Give them a few minutes to speak, then calmly hold up your hand, palm forward.  It’s a very effective tool that usually gets a response, where you can say, “Do you mind if we break this down into smaller bites, so that each of us can understand what the other is saying?”  It’s hard to continue speaking when an open hand is held up between you and your listener.  Try it.

ASK QUESTIONS - By having brief points and counterpoints you have opportunity to confirm what the other person is saying. This completely eliminates second-guessing and indicates to the speaker that you are involved in the dialogue.

LOVE - You should recognize everyone as a child of God (even though many don’t act like they’re in his family).  Be conscious of the fact that events or experiences in their lives have brought them to this point.  They may have been hurt or lied to, as have you.  This puts you on a level playing field.  Your goal should not be to win an argument; it should be to engage a friend, a brother or a sister.

Our example in this is Jesus.  He knew when to be silent, and he was great at answering questions with questions.  Overall he looked on saint and sinner alike with love.  With his Father’s love.  To be sure, he knew the heart of the speaker, which gave him an advantage, but in practice he handled all conversations the same way as he would have us handle them.  Even while rebuking the Pharisees he showed them respect and was careful not to make personal attacks on an individual.

So do me a favor.  When speaking to me, don’t assume that you know how I will respond.  Don’t let your assumptions shape your message.  Ask questions.  Answer mine.  And love me.

Let’s talk.

When President Roosevelt (FDR) spoke these words at his inaugural address, the country was at the bottom of the Great Depression.  He went on to describe fear as the “nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”

We all have fears, some more than others.  Even those who appear to be fearless are, in reality, able to keep their fears in check.  The causes of fear are endless, from ablutophobia (fear of washing or bathing) to zoophobia (fear of animals).  I recently confirmed that I have a touch of claustrophobia when I visited an inmate at the county jail.  Entering into a small, locked room, I spoke with him through a glass and telephone.  Ten minutes into the conversation I got dry mouth and had to pee.  And I still had 50 minutes to go before they would let me out!

The Bible documents a number of instances involving the fear of men, animals and elements.  Jesus said that we should not fear men, but rather “fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell.”  (Luke 12:5)  My fundamentalist friends assure me that the verse doesn’t mean that we should be afraid of God; we should respect him and recognize his awesome power — a sort of healthy fear of him.

While I recognize God’s omnipotence (the power to do anything he wants), I would rather approach him as my perfect Father, the one whom I can run to, and cling to, the one whom I trust to rout my fears. Oftentimes I get comfort when, faced with a fear, I cry silently to him, “Your will be done.”

I suspect that I will never achieve fearlessness this side of death, but my hope is that I am approaching it, ever so slowly, and will overcome it, even if it be at the other side of death on my continued journey.

Another thing that helps me is the thought that others are facing greater challenges than I, and that when I reach the other side of the fearful event, I wonder why I should have feared it at all. My wife recently overcame her fear of walking across an earthen dam where we walk our dogs in the mornings. It didn’t cure her of her fear of heights (hypsophobia), but she felt a great accomplishment by overcoming this one obstacle.  Overcoming fears is much like the rest of our daily lives; we meet each challenge or relationship as it happens.

Fear and worry are close companions.  Jesus taught us to trust God and to not let the words of men or the voices in our own heads sway us from understanding and being comforted by his love.  He said that each day has enough trouble of its own for us to face.

Being basically unchurched the last few years, today we overcame our ecclesiophobia (fear of church) and went to Sunday school.  Just kidding about the phobia part, but we enjoyed being in church again.

Louisa May Alcott said, “I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.”

Sail on.

When we went the first Sunday, we were asked by the greeters to not judge them too quickly on just one service.  That should have been a clue.  I gave them three services.  So when I suggested to my wife that this may not be right for us, she was greatly relieved because she felt the same.

I was trying to pinpoint what was so uncomfortable about my brief Unitarian Universalist experience. While we were encouraged (in their literature) to share what we believe, we found that no one there was sharing what they believed.  They seemed to almost bend over backward in their political correctness with regard to religious tolerance.

I know what I believe.  God, Jesus, Holy Spirit.  These were being replaced with Mother Earth, heathen hoopla and humanism.  While I applaud their emphasis on human kindness and expressions of love, the concentrated effort to avoid references to God, Jesus and Holy Spirit were uncomfortable.

So back we go to the last church we attended before we experimented with UU.  The Methodist pastor has just been reinstated for one more year, and she is the living image of Christ’s spirit and teaching. And this time we’ll try Sunday School, church dinners and maybe a few other programs that would give us an opportunity to know people.

Our grandson visited and honestly remarked that he felt that he had been dropped in the middle of a nursing home.  Yes, they have a lot of old people.  But we’re old, so what?  There may not be enough young people, but we reminded him that this is the summer vacation period, and most of those old people must have some grandkids.

So, what about our unusual take on the fundamental doctrines of Christianity?  (You may want to read previous posts to find out.)  We’ll see how tolerant the Methodists are.  I have no intention of turning Methodist minds to my way of thinking.  But it will be interesting when they hear my views in the course of casual conversation.

Previous sermons there have centered on the love of Christ and going about doing good.  That’s good. That’s what we believe.  And the fact that we are open to the truth, even though it might turn out to be the very fundamentalist doctrine we don’t currently understand or agree with, should put us in good standing with others who think that they might know the truth.  We’re perfectly willing for God to sort that out for us in this life and the next.

Thomas Jefferson wrote, “Question with boldness even the existence of God; because if there be one, he must more approve the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear.”

Of all of the Christian denominations the Methodists seem to be the most tolerant, and this church, at least, shows a desire for love and community outreach.

So here we go.

Our spiritual journey has been both exciting and somewhat lonely.  We were steeped in Christian fundamentalism, but after 35 or so years of our married walk together, we began to question some of our doctrine.  Like the validity or purpose of the Rapture and Tribulation, how the world will end (if it ends) and why is an eternal torture in a burning hell necessary?

We started taking Jesus at his word.  He prayed to God and called him his father, so we wondered how he could be God at the same time.  Sure, he said “my father and I are one,” but that could just mean that they were of the same mind, like “my father and I are just alike.”  So there goes the trinity.

And we struggled to find definite comments or teaching from the Son of God to support the main stream salvation/end times position that so many promote.  The only thing that we could come up with is that Jesus wants us to be nice (pardon the oversimplification).

We went from organized church to house church to no church.  We tried a couple of Methodist churches because they seemed rather innocuous.  But we felt that getting involved outside of worship service might put us in a position of revealing our beliefs, thereby making us and them uncomfortable.  Our next stop - the Unitarian Universalists.

We had done some research on the UUs and learned that they were tolerant of all religions and were big on encouraging human kindness.  So far, so good.  We have attended three “worship” services:  one on remembering UUs who have passed on; one on doing your own thing; and the last one could have been titled, “Is is possible that I’m a humanist?”

We stayed for coffee after each service, only to be approached by a few from 100+ congregants.  Just like most newbies at a regular church.  The smattering of information that we got is that they weren’t dissatisfied with their individual religions but wanted to be involved with those more open and tolerant. This is somewhat confusing to me because it seems that you would have to remain extremely neutral in order to get along.  One thing that binds people, especially with regard to faith, is the commonality of beliefs.

The hymns appeared to be specifically written to not offend or persuade.  The service comes across more as play church rather than real church, but I have to keep reminding myself how indoctrinated I have been since childhood.  I have held several positions in the organized church and have even taught the doctrines that I now challenge.

I thought Unitarian Universalism might be the answer, because I believe in one God (who happens to have a boy named Jesus), and I believe that nobody is going to burn forever for not accepting Jesus as their personal savior, rather that God loves all of his creation and will perfect them through a lengthy process involving love and discipline.  However, I’ve yet to hear teaching on true Unitarianism or Universalism.  Maybe that’s because I haven’t been to Sunday School yet — I mean Religious Education.

I’ve been told by someone close that the above comments may be construed as judgmental.  That may be true.  In the words of television’s Jeopardy, maybe I should put them in the form of a question.  That might take the edge off.

Stay tuned.

When spring arrived in our area, the leaves budded, the flowers bloomed and a new crop of bathtub shrines appeared.  And we’re in the heart of the Bible Belt — not that many Catholics to speak of. Now, if you haven’t seen them, they usually are placed in the front yard for street view.  They are full sized bathtubs that are submerged in the soil, vertically, half way, with a figurine placed in the center.  This configuration is in the form of a grotto, which is an Italian word for “cave.”  Flowers and landscaping are added to some.

The primary figure is the Virgin Mary, but around here there seems to be more figures of Jesus, maybe because we are in the Bible Belt.  Sometimes they will substitute Mother or Son with their favorite saint. I don’t recall seeing anyone bowing before the tub in worship, so I’m not quite sure what the purpose is in having them.  And using a bathtub seems, well, tacky.  You would think the Son of God, or his Mom, would rate something better.

Perhaps the tub talisman is a visual reminder that we are to come clean.  No hidden sins or secrets.  No unclean living or soiled spirituality.  Many religions use such reminders in order to stay focused, so I’m not knocking it.  However, I think the best reminder is to be in each others lives, intimately, bearing one another’s burdens and teaching by example.

While there are no Biblical references to Jesus bathing, he was certainly no stranger to water.  He was baptized in it, walked on it, calmed it and changed it into wine.  One time he used a basin to wash his disciples’ feet (John 13:5).  They didn’t seem to understand why he was doing it, but he basically told them that they would figure it out later.  Some folks today have made it into a ritual, but I’m not so sure that they have really figured it out.

Peter saw the event as a service performed by a lowly servant.  So when Jesus came to him, he refused, apparently feeling that the Messiah should not stoop so low.  Jesus gently rebuked him, saying that such a refusal would eliminate Peter from service in the Kingdom of God.  Peter’s dramatic response was, “Don’t stop with my feet!”

Such passages are subject to personal interpretation.  Here’s mine.

Jesus picked one of the lowest forms of servitude in order to share intimacy with his closest followers. He wanted to teach them that no form of service is to be rejected.  I don’t think that he intended for them to begin a foot-washing ministry, but he wanted them to know that individual service is part and parcel of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Doctrine isn’t important.  Fiery sermons aren’t important.  Praise services aren’t important.  Monetary offerings aren’t important.  Bible thumping isn’t important.  Gospel tracts aren’t important.

They might be needed or wanted.  But they’re not important in the grand scheme of God’s love.

I struggle every day against the desire to be selfish.  We humans are blessed with (and cursed with) the ability to communicate in various forms — looks, touch, speech and body language.  Public acts of service can be offset with a judgmental attitude or hurtful gossip.

A few years back we saw a spate of encouragement for random acts of kindness via bulletins and billboards.  What we really need are constant acts of kindness.  Jesus wasn’t launching a program filled with self-help tools.  He was promoting a complete lifestyle change.  He warned that our righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees, who were famous for having it all nailed down and documented, but had failed at living in the truth.  (Matthew 5:20)

Jesus wants us clean.  A quick shower won’t do it.  Life is a long road on a dusty highway.  Jesus fills his tub with spiritual water.  We can stick our toe in it, dab at our bodies with it or plunge headlong into it. I suspect that we do a little of each.  But that’s ok.  We must not give up trying.  And the more we serve others in love, the cleaner we become.

I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

- Jesus (John 8:12)

I love light.  When we have too many overcast days in a row, especially during winter, I can feel my inner light begin to flicker, and the cold seems that much colder.  But when the sun finally starts to peek through the clouds, it’s like God saying, “I’m back!”  I particularly enjoy it when the light bursts forth in distinct rays, like announcing a grand entrance.  Scottish theologian and author George MacDonald wrote that God gave the British so many nasty days that they might appreciate the good ones.

Jesus is often portrayed in the gospels and in Revelation as a glorious being, emanating a great light. While John of Patmos may be referring to a physical feature (Revelation 1:14,15), and likewise the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-9), Jesus’ comment is of a spiritual nature.

Prior to the Son of God’s arrival, the world was in darkness.  Even the established religion of the land felt oppressive.  God felt less like a father, and more like an awesome force to tremble before.  And even with Christianity’s 2.5 billion followers, much of the world still seems in darkness.  The light of Jesus is needed now more than ever.

It’s interesting to note that he called himself the light of the world. Not the world of Christians, but the whole lot of mankind.  He knew that all would experience some portion of darkness at various times in their lives.  Many are even immersed in darkness, with seemingly no hope to escape.  His message to us was that our heavenly Father sees into the darkness and desires to deliver us from it, if we would but take his hand.

Why do we walk in darkness to begin with?  It’s because the cares of this world get us down, shutting out the light of life, even the hope of tomorrow.  Over 30,000 suicides are recorded in the U.S. each year.  In addition there are some 600,000 failed attempts in the same time period.  This pursuit of ending lives is no respecter of persons; it affects the affluent and poor alike.

Jesus taught that we should love another, bear one another’s burdens, don’t worry about tomorrow, don’t harm or hate.  He emphasized that we must reconnect with our Creator, as father, not as dictator. Coming to Christ can be accomplished through a number of Christian churches or venues, but we must be especially careful to not worship the religion rather than the God of that religion.

God gave us darkness that we might seek the light.  Nighttime is a time of rest and reflection.  God rolls back his canopy of sky in order to let more lights shine, giving us a sense of the vastness of his universes.  He gives us the freedom to wallow in spiritual darkness, knowing that, as true sons and daughters, we will ultimately experience the glow and warmth of his inner circle, as well as his family, through the ministry of reconciliation.

Like other daily decisions in life, we have a choice to remove ourselves from darkness and walk with Christ in the light.  Even when we fail — and we surely will — his arms remain open, and his light beckons.  When the light begins to take hold in us, we become beacons for those around us who are being tossed about on the waves of darkness and despair.  For this we were made.

Let Christ shine through us.

I have prayed for people in my family, starting with my wife, followed by my children (oldest first), then their spouses and my grandchildren, moving through the branches of the family tree.  Didn’t get very far. So I would go over the events of the previous day (in reverse order) and give thanks for (or petition for) the characters or events I had encountered.  Got sleepy.

Praying at bedtime, however, is not so bad.  Then when you get sleepy, which is soon, you’re right where you need to be.  It doesn’t work so well if you’re kneeling by your bed (tried that a few times too).  But it beats counting sheep.

I even attempted to use the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) as a rough outline for inserting my own experiences in daily life.  Nada.

I feel bad.  I really, really believe in God.  And when things go wrong, I can pray like there’s no tomorrow.  But I was taught that a daily dialogue with the Almighty is essential to my Christian development.  Was I taught wrong?

Unlike some religions (and parts of Christianity), I don’t see God as this fearful, angry Being, who’s lurking just above the sky, ready to pounce on you when you sin — or forget to pray.  And I don’t see him as my best buddy, that I can swap jokes with and share secrets.  I worship him as the magnificent and awesome God who created me, everybody else and all of the stuff we explore and manipulate on this giant ball.  But even though I don’t know how he does it, I sincerely believe that he is extremely personal, eager to enter into the most intimate conversations with me, where no subject is forbidden.

In Mitch Albom’s non-fictional book have a little faith, Rabbi Albert Lewis speaks of prayer.  In an interview he was asked why he prays ritual (recited) prayers when, deep inside, he knew his convictions. He replied, “Faith is about doing.  You are how you act, not just how you believe.”  He went on to explain that rituals, like recited prayers, keep you disciplined whenever you can’t find the words.  And saying words that many others around us might be saying at the same time is what keeps us connected. I’ll have to give that some thought.

Prayer is supposed to keep you close to God.  Jesus would often spend long nights praying to his Father. Why didn’t he get sleepy?  What did they talk about?  God already knew what was going on in his Son’s heart and life.  And if you believe in the Trinity, wouldn’t that just be God talking to himself?

It seems that I have felt close to God before without the mechanics of prayer.  When I observe nature on my daily walks through our local parks.  When I hold a newborn baby or see people interacting with each other in love, I feel truly attached to him.  But talking with him one-on-one never got a good grip on me.  It seems one-sided.  I do all of the talking, and he listens, but no still, small voice coming back.  I have experienced the still, small voice, but it usually comes when I least expect it, not when I’m in formal prayer mode.

Maybe I’m too anxious about it.  I should just participate in the journey in which he has placed me and find comfort in the fact that his door is always open when I need to talk.  If I have serious conversations with others, maybe I’m also talking with God, and some day I’ll begin to develop that level of closeness with him.

Lord, help me to pray more effectively.

And thank you for being patient.

Amen.

Pilate responded with:

“What is truth?”

If Jesus had answered that question, we have no record of it.  But maybe he didn’t need to answer it. Truth is truth.  So why do we have so much trouble with it?

Listen to any sound bite, talk show comment or politician, and you can easily see that the whole truth doesn’t always surface.  Sir Winston Churchill said, “Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened.”

It’s funny how we put a spin on truth when we’re asked to convey it or testify to it.  We embellish the truth when we’re speaking of someone else, and we shorten the truth if we are confronted with our own behavior. Gossip is truth with a soap opera makeover.  It’s easy to do.  But personal truth hits closer to home; it chips away at our vulnerability.

Some people are so skilled at not telling the truth, that eventually even they perceive their own lies to be true.  People who give long answers can hinder you from getting to the truth, because you consider it rude to interrupt them in order to ask pointed questions.  The poet Sir Walter Scott was on target when he wrote, “Oh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practise to deceive!”

We declare something to be true by either trusting the character of the truth-giver or by reviewing evidence in order to support or refute the claim.  Truth is absolute.  You can’t alter or change it, and it still be true. You either know, think you know or don’t know.

So how true should we be?  ”Does this dress make me look fat?”  How do you respond?  ”No, honey, it looks great on you!”  - or - “Don’t blame it on the dress — you ARE fat.”  A popular candy bar commercial suggests stuffing your mouth and shrugging.  Sometimes we ask things, expecting a certain answer, as well as setting ourselves up for disappointment if we don’t get the anticipated answer.

Since our whole Christian walk is to be bound in love, we should be sensitive to what questions we ask. And we should be careful and considerate when answering sensitive questions.

We must also be prepared to seek the truth, whether in doctrine, political statement or testimony.  When we respond to questions, we need to cautiously avoid the danger of what might be lurking in our answers. Jesus said, “Simply let your YES be YES, and your NO be NO; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.”

Speak the truth in love.  (Ephesians 4:15)

And, thank God, I have lived 59 days of it so far.

Retire is a funny word.  Sounds like re-tire, or putting new tires on something.  Tire can also mean running out of energy.  So re-tire means finding new ways to run out of energy.  Sounds tiring.

I am one of the baby boomers, those who were the result of thousands of soldiers returning from World War II, looking to re-unite with, or find new, loved ones.  And there are a lot of us.

Life, like a tire, is round.  You start out new, go a lot of places, maybe have a few flats, lose your tread and are eventually discarded.  But the air inside keeps rolling.  The air is your spirit.  It’s what makes your design and tread unique.  God is the designer.  He formed you, balanced you, filled you with air and sent you on your way.  But he let you pick the route.

Getting run down or uneven treads, needing a front-end alignment or an occasional tow is your doing. Getting trip worn is a part of life.  Some folks can’t accept being old; they fight it tooth and nail, using everything on the market that they can afford.  As I am only 62, there are a lot of elderly who hear my complaints and respond with, “You don’t know what it’s like to really be old.”  And they’re right.  I can use the same line on my juniors, except for the “really old” part.

Many people who retire rely on their jobs as the stabilizing factor in their lives.  So, when they retire, they are left empty.  Sure, they had plans to do this or that, and probably did a little of it, but soon realize that they just don’t know what to do with themselves.  That’s when their health begins to fail. I’ve known a few who seemed to give up and die, simply because, in their minds, life is over.  You step off of the work bus for a short trip on the retirement bus, only to end up on the death bus.  The line moves forward.

With the exception of some catastrophic or debilitating illnesses, the drive toward our goals keeps us fit, makes us look forward to tomorrow.  My faith in God keeps me going, anxious to see what’s around the next bend, even if it leads me to “the other side.”  My walk with Jesus refines my journey, refreshes me and teaches me how to relate to my fellow travelers.

The bottom line is that you have a choice.  You can anticipate, with some agony, your next heart attack, loss of your spouse or reaching the inevitable dementia-ridden existence, where your children treat you like a toddler and eventually like a newborn, maybe even discard you.  Or you can enjoy each moment, each day with your spouse, children, grandchildren, other assorted relatives and friends — your life.  And let God take care of tomorrow.

Retirement is GOOD.

But Thomas Paine wasn’t looking for reconciliation when he penned those words.  Five months after the Declaration of Independence, facing the onslaught of British forces at Baltimore, Paine refused to believe that God would abandon their cause and give them over to those who would enslave them.  Two days later, on Christmas Day, George Washington would take his troops back across the Delaware to certain victory.  But this was not reconciliation.

Reconciliation tops the news these days as Congress attempts to force vote the passage of healthcare reform in order to avoid gridlock.  However, this only results in half of the country being happy (?); political partisanship will still keep unrest stirred up.

The word reconciliation comes from Latin, meaning “to make good again.”  For something to be reconciled, it must have first to have gone wrong.  True reconciliation doesn’t just require agreement. Even acknowledged forgiveness is not enough.  Hurts can’t just be forgiven; they must be healed.

The Bible speaks of man being reconciled to his fellow (Matthew 5:24), spouses being reconciled to each other (I Corinthians 7:11) and all of us being reconciled to God (II Corinthians 5:18).

The concept of Jesus dying on the cross so that God won’t be mad at me just doesn’t make sense. Founded in the Old Testament tradition of the smell of burning animals being a “pleasing aroma” to the LORD, New Testament scholars affirm that people need a new sacrifice — a once-and-for-all sacrifice. Rather than an animal without defect, the subject would be the sinless Son of God.The Jewish sacrifice was designed to turn away God’s anger from the sins committed by Israel.  Jesus’ death offered the same God-appeasement to all, not just to the Jews.  His body wasn’t burned, but he died nonetheless. And unlike previous sacrifices, this one would get up and walk again.

The parents of multiple children wouldn’t select one of them to take the punishment for all of them. And they certainly wouldn’t put one of them to death so that their anger with the rest of them would be quelled. That’s unthinkable.  So why would we want to impose this same image on our Creator?

God is all about perfection.  He tells us to be perfect (Matthew 5:48).  Jesus doesn’t say that we should try to be perfect; nor does he inform us to wait for perfection after his death — or, better yet, after our death. No, he simply says “Be perfect.”  He knows we can’t do it.  So why would he say it?

He says it because that makes up the process of the journey, as well as the destination of the journey. Things that go wrong need to be made right.  Some things that we have done, or things that have been done to us, seem like they will never be reconciled.  That’s what makes parts of the journey so long.  Time is not a factor in God’s economy.  Physical death is not a hindrance, or an out.  Spiritual death is not an option. Eternal torment in hell is but a myth if it provides no opportunity for sincere reconciliation.

God’s fire burns while we refuse to be reconciled.  Then his fire begins to warm when we desire to make things right and to do his will.  We reach womb temperature when reconciliation has been made complete. Only then can we truly be reborn.

It can seem overwhelming when we consider all of the failures we have experienced in this life.  It would take eternity to right all wrongs, restore all unstable relationships.  I’m 62, but I have childhood memories that feel like they happened yesterday.  I know someday I’ll believe that they REALLY DID happen yesterday

But God’s forgiveness doesn’t give us a pass.  It is merely the first step toward reconciliation.  Even when we are ready to be reconciled with others, they may not be of the same mind.  This calls for patience.  God has ever been patient with us.  Even though he disciplines us, his sun still shines on us.  His trees fill up with green.  His flowers burst forth in colorful splendor.  He loves us that much.

And that’s what he wants from us.  Be reconciled to one another.  Only then can you be reconciled to God.