To Eternity and Beyond

Of all I have shared, this is one of greatest importance, and I hope you will find the courage to read to the end.  Is it just around me? Or are you, have you experienced heart ache as this year ends?  A large part of my calling to ministry seems focused on the bereaved, having led grief recovery groups for many years now at church, having walked, this year in the loss of my dear dad and with so many others suffering a variety of loss as I start my official work as a licensed minister.

Our community lost a wonderful newscaster and community leader Loren Nancarrow to brain cancer at the age of 60.  A past student of mine lost her father just before Christmas, Ed Herrmann, 67 years young.  Stephen, a young man suffering from a lifelong genetic disease, resident of a wonderful hospital where I volunteer, transitioned two weeks ago; these just a few of the many who continued off planet as the holiday season, my Christmas season, flew by.  My mom's presence and the first Christmas without my dad sealed my Christmas, and yes, there were times I shed some tears, not just for me, but for others facing loss, the absence of dear loved ones this time of year.

In my opening volley I spoke of hope, hope that you would have courage to read to the end of this simpleton's blog.  And it does take courage to face the apparent lion crouched at the end of our lives.  Courage rises in a heart that faces fear and challenge.  Hollow courage walks or runs up to the challenge standing like a feather in a hurricane...unless somewhere there is one who can hold the feather or protect it against the fierceness of the storm.

Most seem to know the story of David and Goliath, a little man against a taunting giant.  No one on the Israelite side wanted to take Goliath on.  But then a shepherd not a warrior with a skill hurls a stone from a sling toward an overconfident ogre and he falls...dead.  The threatening hurricane of challenge falls before an unexpected warrior, his training and skill placed in the trust and leading of his almighty God.

It is my hope and prayer that we discover the hope and courage our lives can possess as we realize there clearly is something amazing, someone amazing we can experience as we face daily challenge.  Every now and then there will also arise large, ugly ogres attempting to cease us, filling us with fear.  I am no David, or am I?  Who are you?  How do you face your greatest storms?

There is plenty of religious 'baggage' that surrounds us.  As I examine scripture, specifically the Bible, the historical accounts speak clearly of what life looks like when we follow God, and most importantly I find comfort in the myriad failures of those whose lives are exposed there.  Failures?  YES!  Have you really read the Bible?  Moses, Joseph, David and hosts of others stumble as they walk lives of faith.  Don't let others tell you what is in the Bible, read it for yourself!  And can I also request that you take off your spectacles of doubt just like you do when you watch reality shows?

As these footprints of faith walk through the brevity of what will be my life, I stand as a man with hope and courage; not self imposed, hollow hope and courage, God given hope and courage.  You see, if you choose to read the Bible, examine the timeline and connectedness of the many seasons and celebrations God unfolds through thousands of years, I believe you will come to the same discovery of which this blog speaks.  God is real.  God is not just giving us a set of rules to follow, He is showing a way to live that will transform the lives of real people, including ourselves.  The timeline has not stopped; for us yet.

We can find hope.  We can find courage.  Real hope and real courage.  We can face leviathans, ogres, cancer and death with completely unworldly eyesight.  We can have lives that rock our world, small as our part may seem, it could have immense eternal value in the lives of some, opening the gates of heaven for them to share with us.  We can see our lives as small, relatively insignificant years, or have them transformed by God into something astoundingly meaningful, much more meaningful than just being a good person.

Once born, we are created as eternal beings.  Our eternal existence is fact made clear by our Creator.  But beyond just eternity our lives can move from this world of joy mixed with pain and suffering into one of glory (God's) and peace (also God's), absent of angst.  Beyond just eternity is God whose offer stands for those who choose to accept His leading.  Again, I ask you to unload the baggage you associate with God.  Take of the spectacles of skepticism and see where He leads you.
Real believers and followers of Jesus Christ hope that you will discover what we have, peace that transcends understanding, with courage enabled rise as we learn to trust our God.  To eternity and beyond, He being beyond eternity, the reason we can live with Him there.