5 minutes at the pulpit in QUOTIDIEN

The Good Doctor=the evangelist that I work for and who spoke my husband's memorial asked if I would be willing to speak about my thoughts on the after-life.

It was a five minute, slightly self-righteous sermon. After puzzling over how to coherently convey my thoughts on the matter, I threw up my hands at about 1am, and trusted that the right words would come at the right time.

The Good Doctor spoke first on matters concerning how we achieve salvation and how we can find assurance of our place with God in the afterlife.

Several times, he spoke about how if we pledge our lives - if we accept the gift of salvation, we hold the promise that some day, we will be 'at home with the Lord'. This is, apparently, the goal of every Christian. Then came my 5 minutes.

I spoke of the uncertainties of life, of Psalm 23, which I now believe to be a blueprint for the living, and not an account of the path of the dead/dying.

And then I spoke briefly about giving peace to another in a time when my cup overflowed with grace rather than letting it spoil -in my time of grief.

Then I hit the 'meat' of the matter: "We say it to the widow/ers all the time. '(S)he is at home with God, now' or after a profession of faith 'and now I know for certain that when I die, I will be home with the Lord'.

When I die?! If we are not 'with the Lord' in the living, we cannot ever hope to be 'with the Lord' when we die. If we cannot live in or give of the Spirit of joy, love, peace,patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control now/if we do not live as genuine 'Christians' - and if we are not 'salt' to our fellow man, we need to take a long, hard, honest look at where we stand on our spiritual walk. Be 'at home', in the living, with God if you truly expect to be 'at home' with Him in the hereafter.

I didn't expect, nor did I get any accolades for my thoughts outside of a couple of 'thanks for sharing. Christians can be a very sensitive bunch when someone else points out that it's not enough to say you're a Christian, but that you also must demonstratively BE one.