I went to a beautiful funeral this week (please pray for the repose of the soul of John Edward Hogan), and I was moved to tears. As it is with these things selfishly I reflected upon my upon my own demise and funeral and judgement.
After while speaking with friends I half jokingly mentioned how I hope for the homily at my funeral to be one of smells, bells and talk of Hell. The CCD director knowing me and knowing I am one who sides on justice maybe a little more than mercy said "you know you should be nice too"; to which I said "we've been nice for a long time and it hasn't worked".
So here's the crux. I know not all the people sitting in the pews at a funeral are frequent fliers. I've spent much of my life arguing and pleading with them to no avail. This is actually not coming from the judgey perspective that they think it is coming from but from a reality where God really isn't going to let everyone go to heaven. We see "types" of salvation and judgement throughout the bible. In the times of Noah and the flood we see only 8 people surviving the deluge. With Exodus tradition teaches that only Joshua and Caleb left Egypt and lived to see the promised land. In addition we have the words of Christ himself "it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle..." We are the wealthiest people who have ever lived. We are also the passing debt to our kids at a stupendous rate. I'm not a moral theologian but I'm pretty confident this is some kind of usury. We need to reflect on things a bit more, not only our souls, actions and their repercussions but also what we are teaching our kids. Point is that Hell isn't just for Hitler. If folks won't listen to me on this side of the grave perhaps they will reflect upon their own deaths while they are a captive audience at my funeral. After all funerals are for the living as much as the dead. If over the past 23 months we haven't reflected properly upon the fact that we are not going to avoid death indefinitely perhaps it's time we do. We can vaccinate, or use vitamins or whatever; but in the end we are going to die. Simple truth. And the meaning of life isn't avoiding death but being prepared for it. And preparing means directing our hearts in a most sincere way towards that end. By the way Lent is a really good time for this. Reflect on yourself. Think long and hard about how you are and where you are with God. Not on how He might grade you on a curve, just simply about yourself alone.
Housekeeping
So I want to cover some house keeping for the book club. I want to thank everyone who has helped recently with the refugees. One friend donated a much needed vehicle to a family of 7 that did a lot for US troops in Afghanistan. It is much appreciated. Also we are waiting to hear from farmer Adam, and see if we get a cold enough Saturday to learn how to cull hogs. If you are receiving this message please let me know soon if you are interested in meat chickens. The plan right now is that I will raise at least one Cornish Cross chick for each man. You will when the time comes process that chicken yourself and feed it to your family. Killing and preparing chickens is the kind of thing your grandmother knew how to do, so maybe it's a skill worth learning yourself. Also there's the added benefit of learning to be really grateful for the food you eat.
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