I grew up in and embraced a faith tradition that stressed the importance of accepting and believing just the right thing about just the right Person in order to get to a good place once life came to an end. In short, faith was primarily for the purpose of getting to the right place (Heaven) in the Hereafter while avoiding the wrong place (Hell). Making the one-time right choice for the Hereafter was far more important than continual daily choices for making the Here and Now a more heavenly place.
The passage of time and a willingness to listen to various perspectives has caused me to see things in a very different way.
I do not know what awaits me on the other side of this veil of life. In reality, no one does in spite of how much they may proclaim otherwise. It is not even of high importance for me to know the answer to this question any more. Another question has come to be of far greater importance to me as I have moved closer to my time to “shuffle off this mortal coil.” It is a question concerning how I impact the here and now. I have come to experience much greater contentment and satisfaction with life as I approach each day with the goal of being more loving, understanding, and accepting of all people while doing what I can to make other’s days a little better in the here and now.
One of the giants of the faith I used to embrace spoke of the importance of love above all else. He said that you could have a faith that enabled you to do miraculous things. But if it did not produce an ability to love people better, then it was just a bunch of empty noise. Another person in this community wrote of how it is truly impossible for someone to claim that they love a supreme being they revere as God if they cannot love the people around them.
My life has become so much more fulfilling since I have made it my goal to focus less on worrying about the hereafter and try to love those around me more in the here and now.
Think about it.
You are loved. Peace.
Commenti