My Geese are back. At first, I thought that most of them had left with the ice…but I found them down the bank hidden by the trees. Many…when they are resting…seem to stand on one leg. When the word spread that I was taking photos of them again…they began to honk in unison… The ice shelves are receding as the temperatures rise well above freezing…although there is a winter storm forecast for this Wednesday and Thursday.

On occasion, I receive comments from others that seem to not understand my meager views on the church in the United States. Indeed I heartily agree with the concept that each individual who seeks to follow the teaching of Christ…is the church. When I write about the ‘church’ I am writing about a group of assembled believers in the teachings of Christ and his bedrock doctrine of reaching out to all humanity. The recognized religious sects of Jesus day were exclusionary…he was not. When Jesus encountered the group of religious people of his day who were prepared to stone the woman who was caught in adultery…he wrote in the sand…and the accusers with stones in their hands…departed and Christ asked the accused. ‘Where are your accusers…’ and she answered that she had none…he responded that neither did he accuse her and to go and sin no more. Christ was accused of being a ‘Friend of Publicans and sinners.’ He sought the disenfranchised and those cast off by society…for his followers. Jesus did not have a ‘Laundry List’ of requirements to follow his ministry…he said, ‘Love one another, as I have loved you, that ye love one another.’

Lists of requirements to become a Christian have kept hurting humanity out of our gathering of believers that we call a Church. The acceptance that a few ecclesiastical men have the answer as to who is admitted to the Kingdom of Heaven is Heresy. Many Fundamentalists choose to follow the ‘John Wayne’ definition of Christianity. Basically tough and ready to fight any and all that do not fit their macho definition of Jesus. But…the woman accused of adultery…met the Christ of Love for his fellow human family.

‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16. KJV. Jesus offers his exclusionary vision of following him and his message of love and forgiveness… to all of humanity…

What did Christ write in the sand…