Reality

A story of confronting ironies.

I consider myself a realist. In other words I am always seeking the truth, the bottom line, the real deal about this life and what it means. I have discovered that love changes everything.
I have also discovered that it is impossible to live your life in a state of love without also living in a state of continual forgiveness.

I have learned that once you can completely accept your own mortality and the mortality of all those you love that there is a huge release of fear in this life. Part of this release is from grasping the reality that there is something beyond this short life. That there is something on the other side of this reality. Something better.

But there are many things that I continue to try and understand. I have said many times before and I am going to continue  stating that, " I am seeking the truth like everyone else."  I do not claim to know "the truth" but  I am moving toward the truth as I continue to study and pray.

The irony.  So I have been praying more than I have ever prayed in my life. One of the things I pray for is the healing of other people who are injured or ill. Yesterday as I was hobbling into the grocery store because of my bad back (snow shoveling), I realized how ironic my situation was. Here I am praying for the healing of some seriously ill people and I cannot even walk straight myself because of my injury.   "Healer, heal thy self" is the thought that came to mind. In one way kind of funny but in another kind of ..... I'm not even sure what to call it.

My thought is, what would a person who has very limited faith think of a person like me who believes in the power of prayer, yet cannot even heal his own back?  Listen, I can understand this kind of thinking because of what I experienced with my son Ben when he was little. I took him to a church where there was a healer. Ben went in handicapped and came out handicapped. That experience affected me, not my faith but it affected my approach toward religion. I knew then that I could not rely on what others told me about God. I would have to find out on my own. Do my own research and experimentation.

I am still experimenting. I know that is not a word that is often used in the church but I found that is exactly how I increased my faith. I would experiment with Gods word and prayer. I have discovered and grown immensely because of my experiments. The bible calls it faith. Step out and do this or pray like this. I call it experimenting. What happens if I really do act on the prompting of the inner voice that says, forgive this person and see what happens?  What would happen if I gave the money I have to this cause when I certainly could use that money myself for other things? 

What would happen if I did something wonderful for someone anonymously who has been vey unpleasant to me?  To me these were experiments, things I read about in the bible and then actually applied them to my life.  The results were miraculous.

As we approach Easter Sunday, a time when some people come to church for that annual dose of Jesus, I wonder how many also see the irony in much of what Christians are claiming?

Where is the hope, the joy, the healing, the forgiveness, the peace that we claim to have?
It is not always an easy thing to answer. But there is something that God is offering all of us. Hope.

Jesus brings hope. That is where the real spiritual journey begins. People start the journey if they can be given the message of hope. My back hurts, but I have hope. My son Ben is still handicapped but I have hope. Everyday I am one day closer to having my journey end on this earth, but I have hope. I pray for the sick, for the hurting, and for the broken because I have hope.

Here is the irony. We as Christians have something that will change peoples lives for the better now and for eternity. It is the greatest gift anyone could ever receive. We just forget ourselves sometimes how wonderful the gift is. 

Lets come together this Easter and remind each other of the Hope we do have in Jesus.

God has a wonderful pal for your life. Start sharing it!   Love, pastor Kent