fourth quarter

  I stand alone. it's not a comfortable feeling. I've alienated many people with things that I've said and done . strangers, coworkers, friends, family--even myself--many times. I will stand alone before God. I have no excuse. have I alienated God? it's not a comfortable feeling.

  why did God make us? the answer is quite simple--to choose.  some religious leaders (those whose occupation is religion) tend to complicate who God is and what God wants. The simple fact is that none of us know exactly who God is and what God wants. what do we know or believe?  we know that there is both good and evil in the world and in us. we know that vast majority of us have intellect (intelligence) and free will (choice). if we choose to believe that God exists, that God created us and that God is good, then it follows that God wants us to choose good over evil. we know that all of us (including religious leaders) sometimes choose evil over good.  some religious leaders preach a vengeful god who seeks to punish those who choose evil (except perhaps themselves). I believe that God loves God's creation. I believe that, even though God wants us to choose good, that God knows that we all choose evil at times. I believe that God forgives those who believe in God an...

  when I look back on "the game" from the fourth quarter I see my life largely as a struggle. a struggle in which I haven't done well. a struggle with self.  it's not that I haven't "succeeded" in "the game" as far as the rules of the world are concerned. thanks to good parents I had all of the "necessities" of life--a nice home, a good education. I leveraged that good education into "providing" for the "necessities for life" for my wife and children.  but what about life beyond the "necessities of life"? relationships? kindness? caring? integrity? fairness? loving? my responsibility for others in the world who are struggling for the "necessities in life"? poverty? hunger? homelessness? oppression? deprivation? freedom? justice? education?  the nightmares don't help. 

905 Canterburg Road, Stephens City, VA - Google Maps   sierra vista. the farm. in Frederick County. about 20 minutes from where we live now. where my father and his siblings grew up in the 1920s. where I visited my grandfather and grandmother when I was growing up during the 1st quarter of my life in the 1950s. lots of good memories.