Reality is reliable. We can depend on the reality of his love for us. His love for us is the rock on which the wise build their lives. Whom shall we fear? Of whom shall we be afraid? Will our almighty lover ever let us down? Will he ever disappoint?
To neutralize the the serpent’s anti-God propaganda, Jesus commandeered a cross - the instrument of our woe - and repurposed it to offer us a contradiction.
Armageddon is here and now. We are not fighting for something in the hereafter. The battle is now. Now is the time to join Jesus in the scrum at the line of scrimmage in the Valley of Tears facing off against Evil toe to toe, cheek to jowl. Christianity is not a sport for spectators. Christians partake in the fray.
Christianity is not reading about a safari. Christianity is going on safari.
In Christianity, there is a delicate balance between thinking about God and seeking God. We do not become Christians head first. We become Christians feet first. The head follows the feet. Why? We don't make a Christian. Only God makes a Christian.
Like foolish children, Adam and Eve ran away from home with God in paradise and took us with them into godlessness. Godlessness is not a nice place. To rescue us from godlessness, God established an escape route, defined it with holy places, made a map of them and entrusted the map to the Church. At a holy place, a close encounter with the living God takes place. During a close encounter with the living God, a connection is made between earth and heaven. Through the connection, the light of paradise illuminates the darkness of godlessness. No one walks away from a close encounter with the living God unchanged. No one walks away from a close encounter with the living God empty handed. A new exodus is taking place and is now in progress on the escape route through the hostile desert of godlessness from slavery under the yoke of Pharaoh to freedom with God and their holy family in paradise. Leading the new exodus is the new Moses, the Church.
The escape from godlessness to God is primary. Nothing else matters. Everything else is secondary. Anything that interferes is suspect (Matthew 23:13) (Matthew 23:24) (Matthew 6:33).
The job of the Church is to be grease for the wheels of the escape not an obstacle in its way. The job of the Church is to facilitate the escape not to filter it. The job of the Church is not to throw the children of Adam and Eve out of the life boats and into the shark infested waters of godlessness whose thinking is not consubstantial with the official thinking of the Catholic Church. The job of the Church is to fill the life boats with the children of Adam and Eve regardless of the status of their thinking and get them to safety - even the agnostics and atheists.
Only by moving from holy place to holy place that define the escape route can you be sure that you are heading in the right direction. The movement of the new exodus is the needle of the compass that always points in the direction of God.
Examples of the holy places upon the earth at which close encounters with the living God take place are the Mass, Confession, the other sacraments, works of charity, acts of kindness, prayer especially the rosary, Eucharistic adoration, feeding the hungry, visiting the sick, fasting, the gathering of two or more together in God's name, bible study, suffering, the hour of death, etc.
Seeking God and experiencing close encounters with them at the holy places defines a Christian. Seeking God and experiencing close encounters with them at the holy places is what Christians do. Christianity is more experiential than intellectual. We are Christians in the doing more so than in the thinking. We are Christians with our feet more so than with our heads. We become Christians feet first not head first. Christianity is a religion that is done more than thought.
The reason that Jesus washed the feet of his disciples rather than their heads is because the feet are more important than the heads (John 13:1-17).
Like foolish children, Adam and Eve ran away from their home with God in paradise and took us with them into godlessness. Godlessness is not a nice place. To rescue us from godlessness, God established an escape route, defined it with holy places, made a map of them and entrusted the map to the Church. A new exodus is taking place and is now in progress on the escape route through the hostile desert of godlessness from slavery under the yoke of Pharaoh to freedom with God and their holy family in the promised land. The Church is the new Moses.
Only by making our escape from holy place to holy place that define the escape route can we be sure that we are heading in the right direction. The movement of the new exodus from holy place to holy place forms the needle of the compass that always points to God.
The job of the Church is to be grease for the wheels of the escape and not an obstacle in its way. The job of the Church is to facilitate the escape and not to filter it. The job of the Church is to get all of the children of Adam and Eve into the life boats and on their way to safety and not to toss anyone overboard into the shark infested waters of godlessness.
The escape from godlessness to God is primary. Nothing else matters. Everything else is secondary. Anything that interferes is suspect.
Are we on the same page as God? Our perception of the problem is the same as God’s. The problem is the bitterness of the Valley of Tears. The sour truth plays rough. It bites. It chews us up and spits us out as bits and pieces. Furthermore, its tongue is as sharp as its teeth. Its tongue generates virulent anti-God propaganda. Our perception of the solution , however is different. We want God to address the bitterness of the Valley of Tears. God wants us to address it. He wants us to dilute it (John 17:15) as sugar cubes dilute the bitterness of a cup of bad coffee.. God wants us to pour the sweet syrup of love into the bitterness of the Valley of Tears. There is a difference in opinions. His prevails
