Someday is Another Word for Never

Everyone needs to almost die… And no, I’m not referring to almost being struck by lightening in Yosemite last year! Nor am I directly talking about my near heart attack last year either – though for all practical purposes I might as well be. If almost dying twice in 2009 taught me anything (and it taught me a lot!) it made me realize that long life is not something you should assume. So let me say it again, and I really hope you will hear me this time: (this is now directly from my journal on my solo sabbatical) Everyone ought to almost die. If not, they really should try to pretend or reflect on what it means to live as though they are not sure of long life. Let me set the record straight. I’m not afraid of dying. Never was. But after almost dying (twice!) I’m no longer afraid of living! I refuse to put off the life I want. If that sounds selfish, let me rephrase it – I refuse to put off what I believe God is calling me to do. (sound better?) I no longer assume far off “somedays” exist! Two to three years is…

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To Know God? – Yes I Do!

Before I continue my series of posts on my solo sabbatical in Yosemite, I want to follow up on my last post, Giving Up on Knowing God. I think I freaked a few people out by some of the private e-mails I got of concerned people who thought I was denying my faith! I let it hang there for awhile because I put a challenge in there for anyone who knew God to e-mail me and tell me what that looked like. I was seriously hoping someone would. Well, last night while at Chipotle with my son, I got the e-mail from a guy named Kirk saying bluntly “I know God!”, and it made my day. Reprinted with the writer’s permission, here it is: I know God! Like you, I started by knowing about Him, and then gradually getting to know Him more and more.  

Finally, I set my mind to get to know Him “personally.”  This itself was the light bulb moment – it was when I DECIDED that I was going to relentlessly pursue this.  And then I found Him, just as He promises us.  

He’s there in the stories of the bible … the things that make…

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