ESCHATOLOGY

The blog has sat quietly waiting for words to be added but they have been few and far between. The words have been rattling and echoing in my mind and deep within but they bubble up to the surface at less frequent intervals. It has been the season of silence, listening, hoping and not allowing my self to give way to fear. That is why a recent reading on the topic on Eschatology by Kathleen Norris jarred open some long closed doors. Kathleen Norris' take on eschatology resonates with my journey and life. Eschatology is a good word but unfortunately has been taken hostage by not so meaningful religious practitioners with one goal to assure they are burn free while others unlike themselves would face the largest wienie roast in history in which no one will be singing "I wish I Was an Oscar Mayer Wiener." Very inspiring theology and possibly why Teddy Roosevelt abandoned church for a time because he was afraid the "Zeal of the Lord was going to kill him."

I digress and some are saying but 'hell' is a reality and you can not dismiss it. I would not think about dismissing because I see it daily in the trauma at our border, in mass shootings, and in the incivility that has cast a pall over our land.  I could go on but I believe in eschatology.

For me my eschatology has already centered on one verse "I am confident that I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord..." Psalm 27:13-14. There is no need to have a misplaced cataclysmic theology that sorts out the losers and winners in the life to come nor in this present life and misinterprets dominion that leaves the earth vulnerable and the mass of humanity exploited.  This view of eschatology is void of the mind, heart and voice of Christ and has lead to brutal suppression and displacing of countless millions, apartheid, segregation of those outside the norms and brutal wars in the name of religion, This same false eschatology props up empty, useless, hopeless and futile talk and false misrepresentation of First and Second Amendment rights, gun controls and the protection of our borders. This false eschatology of the acceptable and unacceptable, the losers and winners, and to misinterpretation of dominion is kept alive by those who have enjoyed the power and the glory of their privileged life but it's not the power and the glory of the kingdom now or in the life to come.  I abandoned that years ago but will never abandon my hope in God and the utter beauty and decency of God who came to us, comes to us, and will come to us. Christ simply asks that we pray His kingdom come daily and then stand back and behold the power, the glory, and the beauty of that kingdom in the land of the living.

I have beheld the glory of the Lord in the land of the living in my life time. I am still taken aback every time I listen to recordings of Martin Luther King Jr., the power and the glory of God overflowed his life. Dr. King interpreted Psalm 27 in four simple words, "I have a dream!" I have experienced the glory of the Lord in the land of the living each time I read a book by Mother Teresa. Her words are just an overflow of the glory and goodness of God she saw in the most cruelest places each day.

For 34 years my vocational calling placed me in the midst of people facing cancer, tragic deaths, and utter despair. I have sat though night watches of loved ones final hours and in those difficult moments the Lord's Prayer has been recited and the glory of the Lord rushed in to catch those falling in despair. I have been with parents holding their still born children and have seen those parents not lose faith that they will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living even if it would be a mere shadow of the glory their child is experiencing.

In my own life I have experienced a life time of sleep related problems and all the health issues that come with that. I spent a year with Shingles and now I am having a round of Bell's Palsy. Seeing the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living does not dismiss us from the trials of this life, it simply calls us to refuse to allow our pain to become the front windshield of our life that obscures our forward view. God can redeem all the suffering we experience by his grace and set before us the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living and we can participate in the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living no matter the circumstances.

A few years back while in Utah I was looking for the goodness of the Lord in the land  of the living when God led me to Kim Correa who was founding and launching a Homeless Hospice Center called The Inn Between in Salt Lake City, Utah. The goodness of the Lord overflows that place daily providing grace, shelter and care to the forgotten. Those they serve are not the losers now or in the hereafter, they are God's beloved. Those being served and those who serve them are together seeing the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. That is good eschatology - The trust in God to make all things new now and forever. God invites us to live and display this hope.

I site this one example and could name many others demonstrating the goodness of God in the land of the living and practicing practical, honest eschatology. All it requires is to be present in the land of the living. It is a simple process. If you are alive this moment, you are in the land of the living. And being alive is all that is necessary to be present. There is no requirement to be whole, perfect, right or anything but simply eternally grateful for the overabundance of God's grace who loves me for me and and every single person I will encounter in the land of the living. The next time you desire to see the glory of God in the land of the living, look into the face of your neighbor, those you work with, those you go to school with, or someone on the street corner, homeless shelter, prison, hospital or crises center and recognize in your neighbors, people who are deeply loved by God and believe as never before in the communion of the saints.