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Christian Desiderata

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…The certainty of ANYTHING can be questioned; matter is not solid but packed with spaces, Light is made of particles [or is it waves?], and an honest man is a good man—and a good man is an honest man, right? I have, for much of my life, dealt with people who—with great certainty—assert that they believe in god and in heaven, but just NOT the version of God and heaven that I believe in…They are often just as self-assured that THEIR heaven is the same one as MY heaven…but, in fact, it is never MY heaven that I am referring to…If they are correct, then it is just as likely that the heaven I am going to is DIFFERENT than the one they are going to…who will reach heaven? No one can say with any certainty…as I write this, many people are being tortured and often dying, because of their belief in Jesus Christ…not that there are no other martyrs from other religious disciplines [I know there are, and I fear for those persons, too]…But this I DO know with certainty: many Christians choose to die rather than to hate others…they choose to die rather than deny their belief in Jesus…the heart of Christian belief and practice is Love, and true Christians can be identified by their love for others—especially others who do not believe in Jesus—that sounds like fighting words today…But we must NOT fight—Christians are members of a group whose sacred texts tell them that God seeks to save ALL peoples, of ALL races…for that to happen, Christians [usually] believe very strongly that we MUST share about Jesus and his death, resurrection, and offer of new life eternal with EVERYONE…That is getting harder to do [and people are dying in the attempt…in Sudan, in Egypt, in India, in America…many other places, too]. NOTHING is as important as sharing about Jesus with others, and yet so many things steal time from this endeavor…Christians must also be peaceful, striving to live at peace with everyone…to that end I treasure open dialogue…share with me about YOUR god and your heaven, and I will listen…share what you believe…let's get to know each other and be at peace about it…

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