Okay, here I am. I admit it. I am a softie; I am an 82-year-old ex-Marine who loves the Hallmark channel on TV. And I know it’s 9:57 PM, my bedtime, because the two leads, indicating that the show is over, have gotten together. . . and kissed! Amen! And Good night!
I know this sounds awfully negative but that is not my intention here. But what better time than Easter. I know we celebrate the raising of Jesus from death. There can be nothing more profound or glorious than that to celebrate. However, and this is a huge however; this is NOT what Jesus would want. Now I am speaking of the first century Jesus, not some twenty-first century mock-up.
Jesus did not teach from a beautiful flower-gilded altar; His altar was a hillside. I think he would be much more comfortable in a run-down building with cobwebs in the corner and people sitting on the floor rather than on padded pews. There would be no organs playing and certainly no demand for a weekly offering called a tithe. And His words would not be shouted out through a microphone but softly spoken for all to hear.
Thinking of the simple messages of Jesus, I quote the intelligence of James in the novel, of the same name by Percival Everett, “If one knows Hell as home, then is returning to Hell a homecoming?” We do not and never have truly listened to the messages of Jesus. True, He spoke in parables, which we still do not understand. Whlat? Did you say we do? Then how come we cannot follow His two simple commandments?
Come on now! You remember them! Love God! Love your neighbor as you love yourself! In our world today, our neighbors are half a world away! We do have an odd way of showing our love, one Jesus would not approve of. I have no trouble with loving God, and I try my best to love my neighbor, but I forget that includes our politicians and I fail miserably at the second. I ask God’s forgiveness every tie that I pray for tis failure in my character. Do you do the same?
So, “If one knows Hell as home, then is returning to Hell a homecoming?”
Russell Kendall Carter, BA. MAT. Dlitt.
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Meditating to Heal 