I am one of those nervous travelers. In fact, I would choose not to travel rather than embrace a self-imposed hassle with either highway or airport. I am sure there is some neurosis here, but I chiefly travel with people like Burnadette. She knows where we are going, how to get there, and steps right up when anything goes amiss.
As a spiritual being I am grateful to have a known start-point and destination. Some people do not care. They love mystery. I don’t mind flying by the seat of my pants, but I am pretty particular about the how, where, and the why. I need some level of surety. When I submitted my life to Jesus over 50 years ago my question of destination opened for the first time, and has been a central consideration ever since.
Departure
There are three significant departure (launchpoints) in our lives. The first occurs when we land in this world. We have no control over the details. The second happens if and when we come alive spiritually. This unfolds uniquely for each of us, and for many this admittedly never occurs. Our final departure animates when we step from life into death. Once again – this day is by and large chosen for us. Inevitable. Mostly out of our control.
Process
While life has much reward it also holds inevitable pain. I wrote a book entitled “The Turbulence of Imperfection.” Why is there so much pain in the world? Why don’t things always work out? Why are some people’s lives more smooth or successful than others? Why do bad things happen to good people? Life processes are ultimately in the hand of the Lord God. Each of our lives is a special recipe – one of a kind. We invest our time and resources in what seems best to us. Through process we have the opportunity to grow in faith, hope, and love. And each of these may be carried with us into the life to come, unlike the possessions we accumulate during our journey. Lots of unknowns. Process amplifies values, and our minds and hearts are given a chance to unlock our souls.
Destination
Inasmuch as our crossing over is inevitable (unless you know something we don’t) there is much unknown apart from what is revealed in God’s Story. This assumes, of course, that God is real and that He has spoken. Here is what we do know from the God Story:
√ We will all enter from life into death.
√ We will appear before the Judgment seat of our Creator and His Son.
√ We will be rewarded based upon deeds of righteousness accomplished in God.
√ Jesus is making all things new. All things!
“He has told you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8
“But when the religious leaders heard that Jesus had silenced the other prominent religious sect, they gathered themselves together. One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him in order to trap Him, ‘Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?’ And He said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ On these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:34-40
How we begin, travel, and arrive are all significant. And despite our frailties and failures, it is God who brings us safely home.
“So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.” Romans 9:16
The mercy of faith brings us safely home!
We are with you,
Dave and Burnadette