Why can't we all just get along???....

Edward Hicks, "Peaceable Kingdom"

...so echo the words of Rodney King as I take in the "Festival of Friends" chapter.. a very nice visual to experience our communication as colors and light... a bit new agey, but I think it does apply readily to us as those seeking so much from those around us. So, what colors were your communication yesterday? bright and colorful, filled with energy and vitality, or dark and foreboding, greys that are marked by distrust and fear, or perhaps blues or blacks that were created by sorrow or anger?

The reuniting with Daddy dearest is just not working for me.... I am one who believes that in this world the things we do matter, and heaven is the continuation of the steps we have made toward the best life can offer, not the annulling of everything that has happened on the earth. This is Young's break with Scriptural workings of Jesus, whose voice often spoke of a separation which is marked by the sheep heading one way and the goats going another.....simply put, chasing the dreams of God and following in the steps of Christ does matter, and I find it hard to believe that feelings between two people that never existed are suddenly not just present, but the center of the relationship. Do I think Mack would have just looked at him and said "you @$#$#*^ slimeball from hell" kind of thing... no, yet Jesus teaching about heaven is that it is a place where paradise is offered and Mack's dad played no part in bringing a touch of paradise to him. This is painfully over simplified for me and in it's own way it goes against much of what the church teaches as far as afterlife. If everyone gets in, then why the following? And even for the Ted Bundy's of the world who repent, I am thinking that the families of all the girls he murdered are going to find a heavenly Realtor and relocate if put into the same zip code as him. Not because they are vengeful and spiteful, but because what he did while on earth mattered, and they suffered through a loss that Mr. Bundy could care less about. Still, that is why I am not in charge of the heavenly roles and I don't get to say who gets to heaven!

Still, we are chasing the dreams of God, so in its own way we are blessed to bring a touch of heaven to those who surround us each day. Acts of kindness, a loving touch in the midst of discord, a challenge when one is going astray, perhaps even a stern word which protects one from hurting others. All of these are blessings blown from heaven, a gift of grace that lightens the load and prepares us for the days when the wolf shall dwell with the lamb and the leopard lies down with the kid!

How did you feel about the reunion with dear ol' dad? do you think that all the emotions and feelings we carry through life are just erased when we all get to heaven?