“Do good things everywhere you go. After a while the good you do will return to help you” (Ecclesiastes 11:1 International Children’s Bible)

A little boy, named David, had come to the home with his kindergarten class. He stood in front of the old man who introduced himself. “My name is David.”
The little boy replied, “So is mine.”
The man’s eyes opened widely and his face shone as though ignited by a holy fire. “No way!” was all he could say.
He was answered with a nod.
The man began to tell his same-named visitor about life on the farm where he was born. The cows and pigs and chickens, and of course, the border collie Rowdy who not only herded the cows for milking, but rescued David and his older brother, Dennis, from snakes in the long grass.
The little David crept even closer as the story went on until big David said, “Would you like to sit on my knee?”
The little one said nothing, but climbed up on the senior’s lap. “May I put my arm around you?”
The little one nodded. The story paused.
“Thank you,” said the almost teary-eyed man. “You know, I haven’t had a hug for years, because when I’m in this wheelchair people can’t reach, and so they wave, or touch my hand. That is nice, but sometimes I just want to be lost in a hug.”
With no hesitation the little boy from kindergarten reached up and shared a hang-on-tight hug, settling his head upon the man’s shoulder, breathing gently.
It was only minutes later that the teacher came along and called David to rejoin the group of young students gathering at the front of the room. He slowly unwound from the hug, pausing to look the happy old man in the face. They exchanged smiles. Then David slid down from the wheelchair and headed for his classmates. Suddenly he stopped, turned, and stood looking at the man again as though a high-speed line of communication was transmitting between them.
The teacher called once again, and he turned as though he was leaving the world’s biggest candy store
The students turned into a choir and sang three songs, ended by short words of thanks from the sponsor and the teacher. As the little learners began to file out the door David split off from the queue and ran to the wheelchair David. He stopped and put a hand on each knee and looked up with sparkling eyes and beaming face at the man sitting there. The man placed each of his hands on the little limbs that were touching him.
The teacher called David to order, who gracefully turned to go, carrying with him a piece of the man’s heart, and leaving a piece of his to fill the gap.
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This I saw in a vision today, and I share it because of the wondrous things it says about our loving God.

God is love. So we are told to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind. And love your neighbor as you love yourself” (Luke 10:27 God’s Word Translation©).

This means we are to feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, clothe the naked, visit those who are sick or in jail (Matthew 25:34-36), and to protect the widow and the orphan (James 1:27). Nowhere does it say ignore and slander those trapped in sin. Nowhere is there a condition on who to help. Yet too often church people heap contempt on prostitutes, LGBTQ people, the homeless, anyone who doesn’t agree with our views on religion and politics, and anyone else who “gets in our way”.

No, we hate the sinners more than we hate the sin! Why? Because “all have sinned” (Romans 3:23), including us. If we could hate sin we would convict ourselves, and we don’t. We don’t have time. We spend all our time condemning others and playing God instead of loving like God.

Besides, love costs too much. It will cost us our pride, our personal convenience, and even our life. Condemning others seems the easier way, but the cost of that is eternal punishment (Romans 6:23)!

Jesus did not die on the cross so you could decide whom you will love! Or so you can justify your gossip and slander.

This strikes close to home these days. We have grandchildren who have chosen the road of sinfulness paved with loose living, contempt for parents, lying and anger, and more. However, we still love them with all our hearts.

If we saw sinners as our children and grandchildren, dearly loved, we could hate what sin does to people, but we could also pray for them with tears, show the face of love and make opportunities to express the love of God to people trapped in sin. We would sacrifice ourselves to be a light in the world and not flame-throwers.

We are not the only ones experiencing this. What I see in our present circumstances is a powerful way to talk about what will change people’s lives, namely, the love of God which Jesus showed to death (and life) and which now lives through us humbled by our own pain, and our faith that refuses to give up on anyone.

“The Lord isn’t slow to do what he promised, as some people think. Rather, he is patient for your sake. He doesn’t want to destroy anyone but wants all people to have an opportunity to turn to him and change the way they think and act” (2 Peter 3:9 God’s Word Translation©).

There is a common story across religions of humans wanting to be gods resulting in rebellion, pride and division. Still today there are people who claim to be spiritual, but live with a lust for personal power, not service. They show no respect to anyone (despite deceptive words to the contrary) and use personal perspective to judge everything and everybody. And they are so wrapped up in their infinite wisdom and unshakable “rightness” they have no room for empathy or humility, despite verbal claims of loyalty to these principles.

So, after decades of experience (including much formal training) and a history of victimization based on my race, gender, religious affiliation and economic status I have something to say:

I chose, and still choose, heavenly love. I remain loyal to The Almighty, not to any religious institution, dogma or doctrine. Service to Creator and creation costs everything, but I would rather be tormented as a child of The One Who Made me than have an inflated public image of importance and power. I will continue to confirm the accuracy of my observations of others before I complain about, or condemn, people. Reconciliation with the Family who share this Earth is far better than humiliating others for personal advancement or “proving” superiority of personal ideology. To alter a famous line from a famous poem (“Paradise Lost”), “I would rather be the lowliest servant in the household of The Divine One than a governor in the world of evil and hate.”

I pray I would start hearing people tell me stories of humble collegiality instead of betrayal and self-aggrandizement. I would be filled with a soul-joy if I met more people who thought social responsibility was a higher ideal than personal rights and opinions.

The life I have chosen is to follow, without religious trappings, the Jesus of the Bible: Saviour and Only Judge.

Many (most?) Christians express confidence in their loyalty to how they worship God, the congregation they belong to or the denomination they subscribe to or their self-righteous declaration of freedom from all gatherings of Believers. Read more…

Many (most?) Christians express confidence in their loyalty to how they worship God, the congregation they belong to or the denomination they subscribe to or their self-righteous declaration of freedom from all gatherings of believers. Read more…

Over the last while I have observed something. Even a single book of the Bible is enough to live by. Read more…

Well, I haven’t written anything for a long time. And before that my posts have been meagre in number. Read more…

Original sin, which I call The Eden Syndrome, pervades our world and personal lives to the point of overwhelming us. Read more…

Friday night, on the way to work, I heard a small part of a Joyce Meyer talk on the radio. What grabbed me was this: God wants us to control self and love others, but we want to love ourselves and control others. Read more…