on the journey

this collection will mostly be the rambling thoughts of someone (me) with a short time to live

what this blog is about

It was raining the day I learned I had cancer. Not a hard, stormy rain but a soft gentle rain, like tears.

Both my wife and I took the news the way we usually do, reflecting not reacting, and the ride home was quiet. We weren't precisely stunned; the outcome only clarified what was obvious. Still, moving from a sunny healthy image of myself to somethings not right inside me to I have a few months to live gives you a different outlook.

The glumness of the rain augmented the glumness of my thoughts. My life ambled past my mind in a random sort of way. It wasn't a collection of events and activities from my life in a time line presentation though. It was a nebulous summary of whether or not I had been wise in the way I had used my time. Not accusing me (I think that God's Spirit was the author of this reflection and He doesn't accuse the beloved) but asking me to consider what I had missed because of what I had chosen.

My wife and family frequently were replaced by things that were nothing but dust. Very entertaining and interesting dust but of no value. The ability to love and enjoy my family and friends, the single most valuable skill I could learn, I apparently didn't really believe to be very essential since my focus was elsewhere so often.

I have since taken feeble steps to correct this particular vice. Better late than never I say. I have a few months to become skilled at the only thing that matters in the next part of my journey.

Oh - about the rain - it didn't take God long to employ His quirky sense of humor to remind me that I actually like rain, always have. It is restful, it cleanses, it nourishes it makes things grow.


So I have cancer eh; time for a fresh look at things; there are most certainly great and wondrous things that God has planned!

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

I see dead people

There are zillions of people who believe that after they die everything just stops










This is because they figure a human is just the physical body; what passes for a "soul" is nothing more than electrical impulses.

There are another zillion people who think that the "soul", a different part than the body, gets absorbed into the identityless collection of former souls and the body just stops.








There are a smaller tribe of people who believe that the body and soul are intertwined and a "human" needs both to be human. What happens to them when they die is the crucial question.

Christians believe that the disposition of your parts depends on your choice. One group has your refreshed soul joining your freshly created body living in a place designed to bring you joy by the One who knows you best and the other has the miserable old soul sent ingloriously to the other place.

One group has chosen to delight in the ways of the Eternal High King and His Kingdom, the other has chosen to follow the broken urges of the body despising the King and His ways for the chance to be a sort of Ruler of their own deplorable domain. They are sent off to manage their fiefdom along with everyone else who has made this choice - sent off because there can only be one King and the position is occupied.

Its natural to think that you have plenty of time to study the issue and make your choice. While watching a funeral procession, Jesus gives an analysis of our default condition. "Let the dead bury the dead" He says.

Being dead is our natural condition! Our choice becomes either Follow the King or stay as you are. David, in Psalm 116, writes about looking forward to walking with God in the Land of the Living. It devides up like this then...

There are dead people living their lives as though they were alive, they don't know they're dead and merely existing And there are those who have joined the King and been made alive and will some day walk in the Land of the Living.

Jesus said that Life is knowing God. Life is a measure of one's experiential relationship with God. Its possible to know a bunch of stuff about God and be dead. Choose the Kingdom of the Living, follow the King
Posted by at

1 comment:

  1. AnonymousAugust 20, 2009 at 12:57 PM

    Dennis,
    I am so glad to be an official follower now...found your blog today. Your deep spiritual insight you offered me at work and the consoling pain talks we had were so valuble and encouraging to me. Sounds like God is really near to you now and showing you amazing things. Thanks for sharing your heart.
    Many prayers are going up for you,
    Abby (for Michael and Kate too)

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)