Often I agree…I think…with the premise that we are all God’s children and thus all worthy of the care and consideration of our fellow human beings.  This morning our Director of Faith Development Rev. Laurie Fields preached a thought provoking message.  The sermon was regarding our seeing our fellow human beings as God sees them.  Rev. Fields sited the recent Stanford University Rape Case where the assailant received a six month jail sentence for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman.  As Rev. Fields explained to us that,” the first sin the assailant committed was his failure to see his victim as a human being rather than an object to gratify his needs.”

Having been a regular church attender for the past forty-six years I can attest that you grow accustomed to the same faces and personalities that you encounter each Sunday morning.  What do we do when someone enters our sanctuary that is perhaps disheveled…perhaps with an odor…perhaps with the challenges of mental illness…extreme loneliness…or without enough food to eat or money to provide for the basic necessities?  Do we welcome them into God’s House?  Do we connect with them…engage them in conversation and by that I mean perhaps the bumpy type that comes from two humans from different walks of life working to know each other?

I heard Don Lemmon who is a prominent newsman on CNN ask a panel of political commentators if they were racist?  Each said that they were not.  Then he inquired if they regularly socialized with or had people in their home that were of another race?  He then said quietly and humbly that if a person does not do this that they probably had some racist views.  Mr. Lemmon then went on to quote a study that noted that the breaking of this cycle happened when a person of one race loved a person of another race.

Early this morning the largest number of people killed by gunfire ever in the United States occurred in Orlando, Florida.  This tragedy occurred at a gay nightclub where a shooter opened fire with a semiautomatic weapon.  Currently fifty people are dead and over fifty are in the hospital.  These precious human beings were children of God…his creation…not objects to fulfill an evil person’s prejudice upon!  Some of the nicest people I know…my friends…are gay…and I am honored to know them!

When the Syrian refugee flees for their life from their home…their country…their family…all that they have ever known…will I welcome them and give them shelter and succor…and love that transcends their religion and attire and sees them as God’s children…and my fellow traveller through this earthly life?

The great author Ernest Hemingway said that, “If you write a sentence that is true you have written a great sentence.”  The truth is that I am not where I want to be in loving and caring for God’s creation.  Are you?

There are two lovely little ocean side towns not far from Miramar Beach and Destin that my family and I must make a pilgrimage to each year when we visit Florida.  The first is Watercolor which has our favorite wine store and restaurant called Wine World.

The first year we visited Ron recommended to me the secrets and wonders of a visit to Wine World.  While Mary Jane chose to shop at the wonderful little speciality shops surrounding Wine World…Ron and I proceeded in our quest in immersing ourselves in deep philosophical discussions and the subsequent unlocking and solving of life’s sundry mysteries.

When Mary Jane checked on us to ensure that we were not becoming bored with our revelries we graciously assured her that we would be fine…and ordered another bottle of wine.

I recall many of the thoughts that I had that afternoon.  Thoughts of how wonderful it felt to be newly retired and able to spend quality time…in such a beautiful place…with a good friend.  Thoughts of the future and how to best utilize the precious gift of life that God had given me and my loved ones…and not to take it for granted.  Thoughts of how large our world is and how much there is to see…know…and experience…in such a short time.

Or, my first visit to Sun Dog Books in an adjoining Gulf community, Seaside.  This is a lovely bookstore in the grand tradition of “The Shop Around The Corner” and “You’ve Got Mail.”  This a bookstore where the books are important…loved…and admired by the people who work there.  Have you ever encountered an employee of a store that not only was having a wonderful time helping you…but also had an ownership in the books that they told you about that gave them a tangible, physical, reality?  When a book lover is explaining the beauty and wonder and mystery of a book they have read and loved…you find yourself being transported to another world and reality.

Life is so much larger than the petty squabbles…lies…and innuendos of politics.  Or, as the great James Taylor told us, “The secret of life is enjoying the passing of time…”

” And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye become converted and become as little children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”  Matthew 8:13  KJV

I and my family have been privileged to join my dear brother and sister in law at Miramar Beach, near Destin, Florida, for the past six years.  The first year that I was there I enjoyed the beauty of the silica white sand beach from the comfort of my green beach chair under a large green umbrella.  This was the epitome of beach enjoyment that my closeted non-beach mind could conceive!

In 2013 I haltingly ventured into the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico and was immediately taken back to my childhood swimming days with my mother at Pounds Hollow…our nearby “swimming Hole.”  This experience added an extraordinary facet to my appreciation of my visit to the beach!

This year, my sixth year visiting the beautiful white sands of Miramar beach, I struck out on beach walks!  I had watched my brother in law, who I think of as my brother, do this every year that I had been with him.  I noticed that he seemed to throughly enjoy the experience.  I marveled at his stamina and dedication!  Now, after some serious contemplation…over several years…I was enthralled with the pleasure of walking the beach!

I have returned home and one of my Facebook friends welcomed me back to reality.  As I thought about her statement…she is correct.  There is a specialness to a vacation and there is a beautiful snapshot of joy and contentment in being with wonderful family and friends to enjoy the shared experience with!

My sister in law has the most wonderful sons and families!  We all blended seamlessly and I truly was sorry when our time together ended.

The ocean has a mesmerizing effect on me.  When I am around it…or watching it…I am transfixed and empowered and energized!

I wonder if when we leave this life and look back on it …that it will finally dawn on us that what we experienced was indeed a magical moment!

This is a great blog by ISVI RAMOS!

One of my favorite songs is “What a Wonderful World” sang by Louis Armstrong.

” I see trees of green, red roses too.  I see them bloom for me and you.  And I say to myself.  What a wonderful world.”

Indeed the beauty of our world is breathtaking!  Mr. Armstrong goes on to exclaim, “The colors of the rainbow are so pretty in the skies.  And also on the faces of people walking by.  I see friends shaking hands saying How do your do?  They’re really saying I love you.”

I have recently viewed the over nine hour documentary by Director Claude Lanzmann entitled Shoah.  The documentary regarding the Holocaust is truly a religious, cultural, philosophical experience…and not one that you walk away from unchanged.

Mr. Lanzmann covers, “survivors, perpetrators, and bystanders.”  The chilling banality  of the perpetrators and workmanlike dedication to the systematic destruction of their fellow human beings is like nothing that I have ever seen.  Their insistence that they were not only following orders but often their small piece of the much larger job of the annihilation of the Jewish people kept them from realizing the horrible scope of their task.

Bystanders when interviewed for the film insisted that there was nothing that they could have done for the Jews and an overall disregard for their former neighbors and friends.  Many of them were living in the homes of former Jewish neighbors who had been first taken to the ghetto and then to the gas chamber.

The juxtaposition of the beauty of the natural surroundings with the horrible desecration of human life was appalling and extremely disconcerting… in the ordinary, non-caring, “As long as it is not me or mine suffering” attitude that is all to present in the film and  in today’s society.

The aquiesence to power is a very human characteristic.  So often social problems are laid at the feet of a group of people who are demonized by those in leadership positions.  De-humanization occurs in religion, in politics, and social structures.

The Stanford Prison Experiment which occurred in 1971 illustrated the psychological effects of becoming a prisoner or a prison guard and the profound changes that occur quickly in this closed environment.  This was an experiment conducted by professor Philip Zimbardo that was supposed to last two weeks but instead was ended by the professor in six days.  The college students who participated as guards became increasingly abusive of the college students who were participating as prisoners.   The prisoners were by and large passive to the psychological abuse heaped upon them by the authority figures.

Newscasters are saying on a regular basis that what ever contradictions are shown in presumptive Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump’s statements… seemingly do not matter to his followers.  The latest of these many inconsistencies being his denial that he was falsifying his identity and acting as if he was a spokesperson for himself during a telephone conversation twenty-five years ago.  Although Mr. Trump later admitted that he at times adopted false names in his phone interactions…he denied that the above mentioned instance was him.

Many former political folks who during the primary season expressed serious concerns regarding the presumptive nominees’ judgment and character and maturity to be president…now are saying that they and all republicans must rally around his candidacy.  Is blatant misogyny, xenophobia, and open bigotry now acceptable in the name of political expediency?

I have spent my adult life working in and being an admirer of Higher Education.  The greatest bedrock precept of education is to develop the ability to critically analyze what someone is saying to you…and to be willing to “speak truth to power.”

If select human life is not of extreme value to their fellow humans…then what is the purpose of the family of man?

“Be wary of any belief or ideology that promotes division between you and your fellow human beings.”-unknown

” Jesus said to him, ‘Get up, take up your bed, and walk.’ And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.”  John 5:8-9

Today our church celebrated the fifteen year anniversary of our Pastor, Janice West, being with us.  I was struck with the passion and purpose that she preached her sermon centering on the above scripture and it’s timeliness for todays’ situation.

The fifth chapter of John focuses on the healing at the pool of Bethesda.  A great number of disabled people were around the pool including a man who had been an invalid  for thirty-eight years.

The crux of Pastor Janice’s message was the question of are we willing to take up our bed and walk…and be well?

The unparalleled suffering of our world cries out for someone to help!  When we pass the homeless…do we avert our eyes and say thank God that is not me?

When the Syrian refugee knocks at our door…do we say…no Muslims allowed?

When we set next to people in our church…who we know are hurting and in need…do we solace our conscience that there are social service agencies that will take care of them?

It is so easy and comfortable to feel justified in the assumption that, ” I have worked hard for what I have and those who have not just need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and become successful.”

The Prosperity Doctrine is very popular in many christian circles.  I have been a christian for over forty-seven years and have heard this doctrine preached many times. Yet, I have personally known some of the most precious, dedicated, consecrated saints of God, as the old time holiness churches referred to them, that have been poor from the beginning of their lives to the conclusion of them.  Mother Theresa was not wealthy.  Pope Francis eschews the wealth and ornate trappings of his high office.  The apostle Peter requested to be crucified upside down as he exclaimed that he was not worthy to be crucified as his Lord!

” And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they who have riches enter into the kingdom of God!  And the disciples were astonished at his words.  But Jesus answerth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them who trusteth in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!  It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to go into the kingdom of God.  Luke 18:24 -25

The question for me is am I willing to take up my bed and walk…and be well?  Are we willing to not only see the suffering surrounding us…but to do something about it?

Shortly before his death the famed film critic Roger Ebert wrote a note to his wife Chaz that said, “this is all an elaborate hoax.”  When she asked what was a hoax, he responded that he was talking about, “this world, this place…he said it was all an illusion.”  During the week before he died Roger talked to Chaz about visiting a place with, “a vastness that you cannot even imagine.  It was a place where the past, present, and future were all happening at once.”

The interesting fact regarding Mr. Ebert was that for much of his life he was an atheist.

Recently I was watching the weekly television show on the National Geographic channel entitled the Story of God, with Morgan Freeman as the host of the program.  On the first episode Mr. Freeman was interviewing a physician who had studied numerous after death experiences.  This physician stated categorically that there is solid evidence that people who have clinically died, including no brain function, upon being resuscitated report their awareness beyond their physical body.

Public speaker Anita Moorjani told Maria Shriver on the Today show, “I believe that I died, yes-that I crossed over into the afterlife and back’ and she went onto say it was like, ‘ being in a really unlimited space and time.”  Ms. Moorjani is the author of the book ‘Dying to be Me.’

I have been a member of the Christian faith for most of my life.  The promise of an after life is inherent in Christ’s teachings.  Many of the world’s religions promise either an after life or a reoccurrence of another earthly one.

The popular movie The Matrix had the astounding proposition that much of what the characters were experiencing was computer generated and not their actual lives at all.

I have often heard it said regarding the prospect of an after life that people hope there is one…but no one has ever returned to tell us if it really exists.  Perhaps they have…and we were not listening?

One of my good friends and work colleagues for many years told me that he was a christian primarily because he did not want to go to hell.

Do we really accept that the majesty of the universe was simply a random chemical reaction?

In the play, As you Like It, William Shakespeare wrote, “All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts…”

“And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.” Luke 23:43 KJV

What do you think?  Have you had an after life experience?  Do you know someone who has had such an experience?