Why Live If We Are Just Going to Die?

Why should we live if we are just going to die? This is right up there with why make your bed if you are just going to mess it up again or clean your house if it is just going to get dirty again? Why bother to enjoy a steak if it is just going to be eaten up? While it is true that we live until we die there is much to experience while living. It's choosing to look at the positive instead of the negative. Certainly someday we will all die, but we're not dead yet. So why live in fear of death rather than living in celebration of life. Each day is a new adventure; any number of wondrous things can happen in any given day especially if you are open to it. There is so much that life has to give, so much that we can grasp if we are willing. You can wake up  each day and say today I may die or today I am alive. The choice is completely ours – - it is one of the wonderful things about living.
 As much as I enjoy life, I too would wonder about the purpose of life if this was all there was, but I believe there is oh so much more. I believe this life is a gift. We enjoy the gift, but it also prepares us for what is yet to come. Yes, I believe there is life after death; it is part of my belief in God. I believe that death is just a transition between this life and the next. Death is neither something to fear nor something to rush into, but simply to accept when the time is right. Death is like a chrysalis or cocoon. As the caterpillar enters the cocoon and exits a butterfly, so we too change through death - - a physical being into a spiritual being. I have no idea what this next life will be like, but because I trust in God's love I do not fear it; I look forward to it. If God poured so much into this short life we live here on earth, the amazingly complex creation, how much more will God put into that which will last for eternity.

But back to this life again, how can we hope to enjoy eternity if we get bored with just 100 years? There is no doubt that God's presence will fill life with so much meaning in the afterlife, but God is already doing that now. God's loving gifts are offered in the here and now, not just in what is yet to come. We have the capacity to enjoy our lives no matter in what condition we find ourselves. Certainly there will be times of difficulty, sometimes great tragedies, and yet even in these moments we can achieve our full potential of living. In fact I wonder if fully living this life is one of the things that helps us move more smoothly into the next. If you have this perspective of living from this life into the afterlife, then there is no longer the question why live if we are just going to die? It's more like why go to school if you're just going to graduate? Enjoy the great gift of life, fully live, celebrate! First Christian Church, www.fcccarrollton.org

Light on the Hill

        There is a lot of confusion as to what the church is actually. Every one will have a different definition. The church is not actually a place; it is a gathering of people. The church is not really the house of God, for God lives everywhere. We do not have to reach beyond ourselves to find God because the contact point for God is within our own selves. I believe each of us is born with an internal connecting place with God; it is our soul. To remain unconnected to God is to have an unrealized soul. The church is a gathering of people who are all seeking  a relationship with God. The church is a learning place where we pray, study, sing, and commune with God and each other. The church is a family, the all inclusive positive image of family. We, as church members, support each other, love each other, and help each other. We motivate and inspire each other. We encourage each other towards positive growth. Without growth there is stagnation, and stagnation is dying while living. The church is where someone can go to feel safe not judged. The church is an embodiment of God's love, visible for all to see -- a light on the hill.
           The church is actually the authority on very little. It is a mistake to think the church has the answers to all questions. Church dogma comes from humans not from God. The church is a place where we can ask questions freely not fearfully. We seek the answers together; we try to find the distinct truth for each individual, different answers for different people. God has the answers, and we seek God's guidance together. There are some questions for which we do not yet know the answers. We do our best not to speak for God but to let God speak for God's own self. The church, being a gathering of people, is imperfect. We are accepted and loved by God in spite of our imperfections. Don't go to  a church gathering and expect to find perfect people. We are doing our best to live our faith every day -- to love God and each other. But there are times when we fall short. God's loving grace wraps us in love anyway, and we try to do the same for each other in our own imperfect ways. To paraphrase a Billy Sunday quote, "Being part of a church does not save you or make you  a perfect Christian any more than sleeping in a garage would make you a car." We depend on God, and God does not disappoint. This is at least what I believe the church should be and what we aim for at First Christian Church, www.fcccarrollton.org