Would I have gone into the fire…

Recently, I was reading Azariah’s Prayer from Daniel 3. Azariah was one of the three Hebrew young men who were tossed into the fiery furnace for refusing to bow down to the golden statue erected by the Emperor. His prayer is a plea for mercy and deliverance from the evil that has befallen them because of the nation turning away from their God.

Azariah, aka Abednego (his Babylonian name), and his companions were among the Hebrew captives deported to Babylon when Jerusalem fell into Nebuchadnezzar’s hands. They proved to be such quick learners, intelligent and astute, that, along with Daniel, they were placed in high level positions of authority within the Babylonian administration. Out of some jealousy of their success from their native born equivalents, Nebuchadnezzar was prevailed upon to have a statue of himself cast in gold and to issue a decree that everyone in the Empire was to bow down to it on penalty death by being thrown into a fiery furnace for lack of compliance.

When it was reported to Nebuchadnezzar that the three young Hebrews stood tall before the statue, and refused to bend their knee, the other courtiers incited Nebuchadnezzar to call them in and demand their obedience to his decree. He was apoplectic that they refused to follow his orders. He commanded that they be thrown in the blazing, fiery furnace which was to be heated to 7x’s its usually temperature…the Bible relates that the soldiers who threw the three bound men into the fire were themselves incinerated because the heat of the furnace was so furious.

In response to the threat to their lives, the three young men were clear that they would not be swayed to comply with what was clearly against their consciences, no matter what the consequences might be. We read:

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us[b] from Your Majesty’s hand. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” (Daniel 3: 16-18 NIV)

What struck me in reading this exchange, and Azariah’s prayer, was the question: Would I have gone into the fire as willingly as they did? Do I actually believe and trust, with such unswerving faith in this same God who delivered them, that He, too, will keep me and protect me in a similar way? Am I ready to stake my present existence and my eternal future on the certainty that God will be with me, whatever the challenges, and whatever the outcome?

Their response is instructive, “…the God we serve is able to deliver us….But even if he does not…we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

Will you…will I…stand strong in the face of the challenge by authorities who are empowered to incarcerate or even to martyr us? Will we still say, in the face of the ever present, very real threat, “My God will deliver me…and even if He doesn’t, I will not scar my conscience by choosing an action that is abhorrent to Him and, so, to me.”?

Both Fr. Maximilian Kolbe1, a Polish priest, and Dietrich Boenhoeffer2, a German Pastor, come to mind. Both chose to risk everything to stand for their firmly held, individual and personal, belief in the Living God of Scripture. Each eventually paid with their lives…being put to death, after their incarceration, for standing up for gospel values against the insanity of the Nazi policies and practices.

Both were vocal, and public, in their opposition to the National Socialist political machinery and its impact on day to day life in war-torn Poland, and in war-ravaged Germany, respectively. Neither backed down, and both paid the price by being imprisoned, Kolbe in the concentration camp at Auschwitz, where he volunteered to be starved to death in the place of another Jewish man who agonized over what would happen to his family with his death, and Bonhoeffer, in a prison in Berlin, from where he was taken and hanged shortly before the Nazi regime fell and Europe was liberated by the Allies.

As Christians, we face an increasingly anti-Christian bias in our media, as well as in the policies and practices embraced by most of our elected political representatives at every level. As we stand for life, family, and freedom, more and more, we are being challenged, marginalized, hounded and harassed, persecuted, demonized and criminalized…the question is, how long before we see, ourselves or others, put to death to rid the society/culture of the blight of those, like us, who put their trust and faith in the Judaeo-Christian God and uphold the Biblical values and tenets of faith that accompany those beliefs?

Kolbe and Bonhoeffer lived in ordinary, normal circumstances, under the accepted rule of law and freedoms enjoyed in a democratic nation…until those freedoms were unceremoniously stripped away. Freedom no longer existed, for them, because they were on the ‘wrong side’ of what was acceptable under the Nazi regime and its power brokers. Both men, and their families and associates, were summarily plunged into an inferno of flaming hatred and destruction neither could probably have ever imagined might engulf them within the culture and history of their respective nations.

Are we heading into a similar, unbelievable, unstoppable crisis such as warranted the outbreak of World War II…which, I remind us, was fought to protect the very freedoms we are now losing, and that seem to be quickly eroding on all sides? Voices of dissent are no longer being allowed to raise a cry of protest, to protect and guard us all from the overstep of forces bent on shifting the values of our society and culture, so as to be able to remove freedom from those who dissent…because they dissent.

If this is what’s happening now…what’s to come?

1 https://www.stmaximiliankolbechurch.com/about-us/biography-of-saint-maximilian

2 https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dietrich-Bonhoeffer/Ethical-and-religious-thought

Devotional Reflections…Success as seen through the eyes of the world, or God’s eyes?

“The logic of worldly success rests on a fallacy: the strange error that our perfection depends on the thoughts and opinions and applause of other men! A weird life it is, indeed, to be living always in somebody else’s imagination, as if that were the only place in which one could become real!”

Thomas Merton, OCSO1

1From ‘A Daily Catholic Moment, Aquinas Press Classics, (c) 2014, Paraclete Press

Two recent thoughts from the Lord:

October 26, 2021

You do well to set aside all the plans, purposes and intentions that serve to dictate to you what you will do, at any given hour in any given day, to seek FIRST the Kingdom, and let your purposes and plans fall into line from there rather than from the Kingdoms that you are building in your own mind. Those are KINGDOMS that derive from your own self will, which is primarily self-interested, self-oriented, and selfish to the extreme.

Self-will has never been and, indeed, cannot ever be, at the service of the will of My Father. Even I, the Only Begotten Son of the Father, had to yield My WILL to conform it to HIS WILL. No one who purposes in their heart to serve their own interests or pursue what they want – or think is best – for themselves, can truly SERVE in the Kingdom of My Father. Only those who totally relinquish every form and aspect of self-will, who surrender their ALL into My keeping, can hope to serve the Father and be part of the Everlasting, Eternal, Heavenly Kingdom.

When it comes to the Last Day, every person will see, with clarity and total understanding, which KINGDOM they have served in, and they will KNOW that the eternal destiny that awaits them is one of their own making. Neither I nor My Father condemn anyone to the everlasting Lake of Fire, rather each choice a person makes in this life determines for themselves where their eternity will be spent. The choice faced by each person is exactly the same as it was for Me in the Garden, where I yielded My Whole Being into the Hands of the Father, when I said, “Not My will, but YOUR will be done, O Lord.”

With every choice you are making TODAY you are paving the way to your own eternal destination.

October 27, 2021

“In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.”       ~ Is. 30:15

Many believe that their strength is founded upon confidence in themselves, and they strive to develop their self esteem, to see themselves in the most positive light, to glory in themselves, and take credit for themselves, attributing success to their natural talents and abilities. They pride themselves in their stellar performances and even declare to themselves, and others who might listen, ‘Truly, I am like God.’

But, it’s all illusory, a great deception of the enemy of their souls, for when they face a true crisis, where who they are, all they pride themselves in, and what they can do is totally insufficient to see them through, then, they come face to face with the emptiness and inadequacy of self.

‘Self’ cannot deliver them from the diagnosis of a terminal illness. ‘Self’ cannot overcome the vagaries of financial ruin. ‘Self’ is unable to hold on when the world around them is crumbling – a loved one is dying, a natural disaster has struck personally destroying their home or livelihood, a ‘pink slip’ has arrived unexpectedly in their ‘In’ box, and their house of cards has come tumbling down.

No, only as you have sunk your roots deep into the quietness and confidence that come from KNOWING Me will you have the strength to stand firm amidst the battering of the storms of life and be uncertainties being faced in the world around you today.

It is My desire to give to each one who places their trust and confidence in Me, who chooses to be a ‘sheep’ of My Flock, to surrender their whole lives into My keeping – to these I give the inheritance of the Heavenly Kingdom, the assurance of joy and abundant life in the here and now, and eternity in the life that is to come.

Death is NOT the end, it is a beginning for ALL who trust in ME.

This World is Not my Home….

Back in the day, mellow voiced singer Jim Reeves popularized the Southern Gospel song, This World is Not my Home….

This world is not my home, I’m just a passing through,

My treasures are laid up, Somewhere beyond blue.

The Angels beckon me, From heaven’s open door

And, I can’t be at home in this world anymore.

Living with the constancy of the fear of death which has been associated with the media message on the epic proportions of the death dealing pandemic, we have forgotten that it is important to live for today, knowing that we are ‘…just passing through.’

Life has never laid claim to being eternal here in our earthly existence. We are all going to die, so trying to cling to this life, to avoid the vagaries of the threat of death, shifts and changes how we live our lives.

Living in fear and panic of a deadly threat has stressed out so many people that it is threatening to break apart families, friendships, neighborhoods and communities, based on whether one is vaccinated or not. If in fact we are called to show love to our enemies, how can we in good conscience tolerate the intolerance of rejecting someone we care for because they disagree with our position/stance?

It seems to me that ‘Love’ would act differently. It would embrace and care for, despite the varying beliefs around ‘…to be, or not to be…’ vaccinated.

Here are a couple of articles, albeit one from 4 months ago, that look at this from a different perspective.

National Post: ‘Unjustified fears’: When COVID-19 anxiety stops making sense.

“Polls keep showing that the public believes COVID-19 disease is way deadlier and more pervasive than it really is“

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/unjustified-fears-when-covid-19-anxiety-stops-making-sense

And, CTV did an excellent piece on reasons individuals are choosing to hold back from getting the current vaccines, which is more recent.

‘We are not anti-vaxxers’: Concerns over side-effects, research among main reasons some Canadians are not getting COVID-19 vaccine

https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/we-are-not-anti-vaxxers-concerns-over-side-effects-research-among-main-reasons-some-canadians-are-not-getting-covid-19-vaccine-1.5545896

Being at odds with each other is causing more damage and harm in personal relationships than all the lockdowns/masking and other restrictions put together.

It’s time to re-examine our priorities and decide if we can afford the divisiveness that is being foisted off on us by media, government and health professionals. Our social fabric is being rent asunder all ready with the imposition of ongoing restrictions, can we really afford to show further intolerance because another does not agree with us on this single issue? Why such intolerance when we have had so much rhetoric in recent years on inclusion, acceptance, and diversity?

I really believe that ‘Love’ would act differently — and work to bring us together, not pull and push us so far apart.


Devotional Reflections…Rest, Stop Striving…

The Lord says to me, and perhaps to you, to stop taking on so much in my own strength, but, rather, to only take on His yoke and His burden, which He promises will be light…

Be at peace – and take your rest. Dwell securely in My Presence and be assured of My LOVE. I do not ask monumental feats of you or demand things too far beyond your capacity and capability to do. I am not asking you to always be striving, without let up, to become more perfected in your own sight. I love and accept you as the ‘real’ you and do not ask that you be more than you are or to achieve beyond your ability to do what I have already gifted and equipped you to do. You, yourself, are your own hardest taskmaster and greatest critic, always striving to do more and be better.  But I only ask you to be who I have made you to be, and to do only what I have designed you to do.

As you come to Me, to ‘rest’ in My LOVE and take only My Yoke upon you, truly, you will find that it is easy to bear, and is exceedingly light, because I have designed it and it is directly proportioned for you, personally, to bear. My yoke neither chafes nor oppresses. Rather, it is a joy to bear it, because it fits so well, since it is personally designed specifically for you.

When you take on what you, or others, ask or expect of you, the weight of the yoke becomes oppressive, and you are unable to bear up under it. When that oppressive weight upon your shoulders leads you to be overburdened, you must know that it is not from ME. It is too heavy because you have added to it things that I have never asked you to assume, take responsibility for, or take on because you believe you can, or think you must.

Everything that you think to do may not necessarily be My will, My purpose, or My plan for you. It is easy to get guilt-tripped by the enemy of your soul to overburden and overextend yourself. Step back and say, ‘Lord, show me what is Your will in the matter.’ I will answer.

TRUST Me to LEAD you…ALWAYS.

Devotional Reflections… Being alone with the ALONE…

June 22, 2021

As I was driving into Mass this past Sunday morning, along an almost deserted highway, and contemplating the sky and the cloud formation, a question formed in my heart, “Lord, where are you? Do You hear me? Do You see me?”

The Lord seemed to give this response:

I envelop and enfold you in My Presence. I am not a physical entity, as you suppose from the many images in historic art where I am depicted seated on a heavenly throne. I am not confined to space and cannot be located at some fixed point in the Universe. I fill the whole Universe with My Presence. In the same way, as it says, in Genesis, that I ‘…hovered over the water…’ in the beginning, I continue to ‘hover’ over all of creation, including you.

As I hovered, I ‘spoke’, and instantly created, physical universes came into being, but I am not part of those physical realities. I encircle and surround them with My Presence, like an ever-present cloud – and I am contained in all of it at once, not in a single, specific location.

While I can be seen in the physical form in the Person of My Son, I am not ‘substance’ in the entirety of My Being.

As you have reflected upon your experience of the ‘sound surround’ of the robin’s song at dawn, when you have stepped out your door at first light of day, so am I. I am all around you, but you cannot pinpoint My Presence anymore than you can identify the location of a single, solitary, singing bird, as several of them call back and forth, unseen, and their song fills the air around you.

I envelop the Universe I have created, and, at the same time, I envelop and surround you. I ‘hear’ you and I ‘see’ you because you, too, are part of My created worlds. I feel the beat of your heart, and know the thoughts of your mind, instantaneously. There is no distance between you and Me. I absorb all of who and what you are into My Being – because I AM.

Two Deaths…

“Grandma, it’s all right. You can go now“

My eldest Swedish Canadian cousin died at home on Christmas Day in 2018. Our families had grown up together in rural SK until she married at 18. The day after their wedding, she and her new husband, along with her entire family, moved to Vancouver Island, BC primarily to deal with her serious health issues, stemming from asthma.

The health challenges would plague her all her life.

She was 83 and her entire family kept vigil with her at her bedside through her final days and hours. She and her husband of 65 yrs. were residents of a senior’s supported living condo in Victoria, B.C.

After struggling with a myriad of health challenges for a prolonged period of years, she finally elected to stop any further treatments earlier in December and was referred to palliative care. Her personal physician continued to journey with her, including spending several hours with her at her home on December 24 – a testament to the quality of the person this patient was and what she meant to her primary healthcare provider.

Early on Christmas morning, waking in her own bed, surrounded by her nine daughters, granddaughters, and great granddaughters, she opened her eyes and asked for her husband. He was called into the bedroom from the adjacent living room, where he and his 6 sons-in-law and grandsons had been spread around the small space slumbering, as best they could.

The 65th Christmas

He leaned across the bed to his wife, and she looked up at him and said, “We’ve had 65 Christmases together.”

She lingered through the day, not fully aware of her surroundings or those with her. In mid-afternoon most of the family adjourned to the daughter’s home, a short way away, where the traditional turkey had been prepared, to share in festive turkey sandwiches.

When they returned, the two granddaughters who were nurses, who had remained behind, called the husband in to see her again. As they left the bedside, he climbed up on the bed beside her and took her into his arms.

He whispered to her, “Grandma, it’s all right. You can go now.”

Within seconds, her breathing stopped, and she quietly slipped into eternity.

A different kind of death

A friend in my Ladies Bible Study shared the experience of a friend of hers who had journeyed with a lady who chose Medical Aid in Dying (MAiD), within about the same time frame as the death of my cousin. Medical Aid in Dying is the term utilized by the Government of Canada in its legislation to avoid use of the terms ‘physician assisted suicide’ and euthanasia. [Any doctor today would tell you that every licensed doctor has been providing ‘medical aid in dying’ since time immemorial.]

The person in question was invited by friend of hers who was terminally ill to be present during the procedure to medically end her life. While the first person was very reluctant to participate because she did not support, nor believe in, the use of physician assisted suicide, because she valued the friendship, and the trust placed in her to be asked to journey with her friend through this end of life experience, she reluctantly agreed to be present for the medical procedure that would terminate the life of her friend.  

The night before the medical appointment to end her life by lethal injection, i.e. proceed with the ‘medical aid in dying’ procedure, the lady who was terminally ill held a family dinner that had the whole family gathered as if in celebration of a very festive occasion. There was great food, good company, laughter, dancing and singing. The patient herself presided at the piano and led the company of children, grandchildren, and close friends in a sing-along into the wee hours of the morning.

Everyone said their good nights and goodbyes as if they were just completing a stellar social occasion.

The next morning, the friend returned to be with the patient who had her appointment with death. She reported that the woman had dressed to the hilt in her best dress outfit, complete with her usual string of pearls.

The patient laid down on her bed in her bedroom, then paused, and asked the Chaplain who was present to say a prayer. She then extended her arm to the medical practitioner in the room, said, “Let’s get this done,” and received the fatal, lethal injections in her extended arm.

The friend of the patient who was a witness to the whole procedure, from the social gathering to her friend taking her last breath, was traumatized. She commented later that, it was “…like putting a dog down.” She vowed she would never participate in a physician-assisted-suicide again and, to this day, still has nightmares around witnessing the procedure.

The Difference

I have shared these scenarios with care workers training for visiting in institutions. They immediately “get” the difference between these two deaths. Do you?

Government Dependence…a coming Holocaust?

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In a few weeks under the COVID-19 crisis, governments have changed Canada and the United States in ways that socialism has been trying to do for over 150 years.

One of my major concerns is that we have, within a few short weeks, become more government dependent as a nation than at any other time in the history of our democracy. We could never have ever imagined something like this happening so fast. Almost every sector of our economy has become dependent on government financial aid, including individuals who have opted to give up paid jobs because they can receive more on government aid than by working.

What has been advocated to be introduced, and implemented, since the advent of socialism 150-200 yrs ago, has in the course of a few short weeks, become ‘common’ in both Canada and the US. I believe this will not bode well for coming out of this pandemic crisis and the economic recovery. We have mortgaged, not only the future of our grandchildren to the hilt with the massive debt load, but I think it will prove to have been a ‘mortgaging’ of our very souls, as well.

The demand for limited resources to be stretched to provide guaranteed income support for all Canadians will have a deleterious impact on our Canadian economy and the ability for government to finance it, and recover, and deal with massive, overwhelming debt.

Saving Health Care Resources by Moving MAiD from Voluntary to Mandatory

The expectation on the part of the many to maintain the dependence on government support will require excessive draws on limited government financial resources. [And, I foresee that resulting in the decision for cuts to healthcare that will make it expedient to move Medical Aid in Dying — Doctor assisted suicide — from the realm of being voluntary to being mandatory.]

The inability for government to meet all the demands for ongoing financial support could well end in social chaos and violence, with everyone demanding the same level of access to all resources, even if it means wresting them out of my neighbors hands with force.

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This “Unprecedented Time” – Not Unprecedented

History has shown that this is typical of such a scenario…think Nazi Germany in the 1930’s….the economic conditions, prepared the German people to accept government control and social engineering at an unprecedented level, in ways that afterwards left people shaking their heads, saying, “How could this have happened in such a civilized, educated, sophisticated society?”  [Remember, that the killing that eventually moved into the holocaust, and the loss of 6 million lives, began with euthanizing the most vulnerable, the ‘undesirables’ — those who were not productive to the economy, but rather a drain on limited, depression economy resources.

Biblical Quotes and Inspirational Thoughts to Put Steel in Our Souls

That being said, here are some scriptures, and comments, that I think are relevant for us today as we negotiate this unprecedented time and the challenges to our individual and personal spiritual walks. I believe these speak to how we must live our personal lives given these current times, and in order to be ready for what lies ahead.

From Revelation 3, quoted in the Catholic Office of Readings recently, to two of the churches:

To the church of Philadelphia: Rev. 3: 8, 10-11, 12a
“‘I know your deeds; that is why I have left an open door which no one can close. I know that your strength is limited; yet you have held fast to my word and have not denied my name….Because you have kept my plea to stand fast, I will keep you safe in the time of trial which is coming on the whole world, to test all men on earth. I am coming soon. Hold fast to what you have lest someone rob you of your crown.

‘I will make the victor a pillar in the temple of my God and he shall never leave it.'”

To the church of Laodicea: Rev. 3: 15-16, 17,19, 20-21a

“‘I know your deeds; I know you are neither hot nor cold….But, because  you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spew you out of my mouth|! You keep saying, “I am rich and secure and want for nothing.” Little do you realize how wretched you are, how pitiable and poor, how blind and naked….
“‘Whoever is dear to me I reprove and chastise.. Be earnest about it, therefor. Repent.
“‘Here I stand, knocking at the door. If anyone hears me calling and opens the door, I will enter his house and have supper with him, and he with me. I will give the victor the right to sit with me on my throne…..'”

And, from Oswald Chambers, known best as the author of “My Utmost for His Highest”, writing in “Devotions for a Deeper Life”:

“If you think that your obedience, your repentance, or your morality is going to get you nearer to Jesus Christ, you are making a mistake. Intimacy with Christ comes only by abandoning yourself to Him.
“Your crying out to God will not save you. Surrendering your possessions will not save you. You may give God everything you like and still be damned. God never asked you to give him anything but your will.
“The only barrier to your salvation is yourself….Yet all depends on whether you submit  your will to Him.
“Some people are more concerned about being in earnest than about being in God’s will.”

And, finally, from “A Daily Catholic Moment: 10 Minutes Alone with God”:

Rom.12:2 – Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (ESV)

“The key to living in the here and now is awareness of what we are doing and acceptance of what is going on beyond the surface appearances. This daily discipline is difficult and takes practice. It requires that we be sensitive to what we are experiencing, accept the person before us without judgment, savor and enjoy what surrounds us, and deal with interruptions and change of plans with grace and peace. When we live fully in the here and now, we reverence the holiness of each action of our daily routine. Why? Because we are convinced that this moment is God’s ambassador that reveals the divine will for us in the here and now. Generously accepting the present moment, we can then gratefully bow to receive its blessings.”    Sr. Bridget Haase, OSU  

Devotional Thought (addended to her comments): Is there anything keeping me from living in the here and now, today?

May He keep us in peace, in the ‘here and now’ of our day, which, really, is preparation for whatever tomorrow brings to us.

On the 12th Day of Christmas…

Sunday, January 6, 2019

“On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…”

Well, in fact, it doesn’t matter what the ‘true love’ of the writer of those lyrics gave, because something far more substantial is being celebrated on this 12th Day of Christmas which makes that gift pale in comparison.

Today is really the celebration of what the ‘True Love’ of our lives gave to us, to the world. That Babe, born at Bethlehem, and placed in a manger, came as the incarnate God, the ‘Word made flesh’ to dwell among us, to be Emmanuel, God with us. And, as Simeon declares, this ‘True Love’ came as God’s salvation, both for the ‘glory of Israel’ and, simultaneously, as a ‘light to the nations,’ God’s light not only to the Jews, but to the whole world, the Gentiles, the pagans who did not know the revelation of ‘One true God’ as the Jews did.

Today, this 12th Day, we commemorate the arrival of the Magi, wise men from the east, representing the ‘nations,’ the Gentile world beyond the Jewish sphere, to witness that the Living God was including them in the salvation he had prepared for all peoples. They came bearing gifts – rich gifts for a babe born to peasant, Jewish parents – gold, frankincense and myrrh, representative of kingship, deity and death – a harbinger that this King’s reign was not confined to an earthly kingdom, that he was true God and true man, and that he would suffer and die for the world he had deigned to enter as a helpless infant.

As we consider these representatives of the nations, these wise men who also represent us, kneeling to offer gifts to this heavenly King, we, too, are called to consider what we, ourselves, might offer to this royal deity. At today’s Mass, our priest encouraged us to bring the ‘gold’ of our love, the ‘frankincense’ of our prayers, and the ‘myrrh’ of our own sufferings, and present them to Jesus, recognizing him as our Savior and Lord, and ‘soon coming King.’

This Jesus promised to return to take us to be with Him in His Father’s house, which has many rooms (Jn. 14: 2). He invites us, who believe there is a God, to believe also in Him, and identifies himself as the Way, the Truth, and the Life, the one who alone leads us to the Father and his eternal dwelling place.

From a young age, I spent a lifetime, well into my adult years, afraid of death – which scripture says is the last fear to be conquered. I knew intuitively that death meant darkness, absence of contact with any other living being, and total conscious knowledge. So, I embarked on a search to determine if God was real and if life after death held more promise than what I faced in the bleak awareness that death was a frightening prospect.

Hidden in a dresser drawer was a relic from my Mom’s Catholic childhood, with a prayer that concluded, “Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.” I latched onto that because I was sure I needed prayer for the hour of my demise. It was perhaps one of the influences that eventually led to my embracing Catholicism as a young adult in my mid-20’s. What came entirely unexpected, a surprise to me, on receiving the communion bread for the 1st time as a Catholic, I had the awesome experience of knowing I was on the outside and had ‘stepped’ to the inside. I knew I had been received into a heavenly kingdom, that was eternal and irrevocable. And, it ended the fear of what I might face when I drew my last breath on earth. The darkness was infused with light, there was contact with a living God who was substantial and real, and I would consciously ‘know’ and be known for an eternity with him.

The irony is not lost on me that having harbored the inordinate fear of death from childhood on, I should end up being immersed as a Hospital Chaplain, in end of life ministry, dealing with dying and death – and counting it a privilege to journey with others through this final stage of life. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that the last breath here is the first breath there. I also saw that the God who has put eternity in our hearts makes himself known during those final end stages, be that days or hours, and those who never knew him can find he is there waiting for them.

My experience is one of the reasons I am so opposed to the current popularized physician assisted death, termed in Canada’s legislation “Medical Aid in Dying” (MAiD). People are robbing themselves of the opportunity to make their peace with the God who loves them and wants to welcome them into his Kingdom of light. Things that can only be addressed in those last days/hours cannot be settled in advance of the end stages. Death is not powerless, and the natural process of dying is a sacred, holy, privileged time for the person, and those journeying with them, that is not be short-circuited to alleviate the fear of suffering.

There is much to be learned and accomplished by completing the journey naturally for all concerned. Death is too final to miss out on the lessons it has to offer in the end of life journey, being supported and cared for those around. It is also a legacy and prepares the way for those who will follow. Dying too soon misses out on some very sacred moments that are not to be taken so lightly as to ignore the significance and meaning for the person who is dying and those who surround them with their love.

The God who came as that Babe in a manger, awaits each one of us, to shine light on our final journey and receive us into an eternal kingdom, with all those who have gone before us. Believing in Jesus, as the only begotten Son of the Father, is our entry ticket to that life.

Accept and Believe.

Truth be Known…

The astute observer of my blog entries will notice that the previous article has been edited and the attribution of the piece removed.

A dear friend, who was quicker on the uptake than I was, alerted me to the fact that, on checking with Snopes (https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/the-paradox-of-our-time/) the piece I attributed to George Carlin was, in fact, disclaimed by him and not attributable to any number of other purported authors whose names were associated with authoring it.

Snopes says:

        “The true author of the piece isn’t George Carlin, Jeff Dickson, or the Dalai Lama, nor is he anonymous. Credit belongs to Dr. Bob Moorehead, former pastor of Seattle’s Overlake Christian Church (who retired in 1998 after 29 years in that post). This essay appeared under the title “The Paradox of Our Age” in Words Aptly Spoken, Dr. Moorehead’s 1995 collection of prayers, homilies, and monologues used in his sermons and radio broadcasts”

I stand corrected, and am a little peeved with myself that I failed the ‘test’ of reprinting something without verifying its veracity. It is a good lesson for all of us who receive the forwards from well-intentioned family/friends/acquaintances to check them out before sending them on — or posting them to your blog!

We are maybe a little too quick to accept that what we receive is truth when, in fact, it borders on fiction.

How much of what is seen online, in the news headlines, or through other media, is really what it represents itself to be? And, how much of what we read can we rely on, without questioning it? A good lesson in caution to not believe everything we read…from any source, without checking it out.

A lesson learned.

Wisdom of the Ages, for Today…

The Paradox of our time…

            
The paradox of our time in history is that
we have taller buildings but shorter tempers,
wider Freeways, but narrower viewpoints.
We spend more, but have less, we buy more,
but enjoy less. We have bigger houses
and smaller families, more conveniences,
but less time. We have more degrees
but less sense, more knowledge, but less
judgment, more experts, yet more problems,
more medicine, but less wellness.
We drink too much, smoke too much, spend
too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast,
get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired,
read too little, watch TV too much, and
pray too seldom.
We have multiplied our possessions, but
reduced our values. We talk too much,
love too seldom, and hate too often.
We’ve learned how to make a living,
but not a life. We’ve added years to life
not life to years. We’ve been all the way
to the moon and back, but have trouble
crossing the street to meet a new neighbor.
We conquered outer space but not inner space.
We’ve done larger things, but not
better things.
We’ve cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul.
We’ve conquered the atom, but not our prejudice.
We write more, but learn less. We plan more,
but accomplish less. We’ve learned to rush,
but not to wait. We build more computers
to hold more information, to produce more
copies than ever, but we communicate
less and less.
These are the times of fast foods and slow
digestion, big men and small character,
steep profits and shallow relationships.
These are the days of two incomes but
more divorce, fancier houses, but broken
homes.
These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers,
throwaway morality, one night stands,
overweight bodies, and pills that do everything
from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when
there is much in the showroom window
and nothing in the stockroom.
A time when technology can bring this letter
to you, and a time when you can choose
either to share this insight, or to just
hit delete…
Remember; spend some time with your loved ones,
because they are not going to be around forever.
Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks
up to you in awe, because that little person soon
will grow up and leave your side.
Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to
you, because that is the only treasure you can
give with your heart and it doesn’t cost a cent.
Remember, to say, ‘I love you’ to your partner
and your loved ones, but most of all mean it.
A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it
comes from deep inside of you.
Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment
for someday that person will not be there again.
Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time
to share the precious thoughts in your mind.
AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:
Life is not measured by the number
of breaths we take,
but by the moments
that take our breath away.