How hot is it

the forecast is for hot

really hot

not perhaps Arizona hot

 

but still it is hot

how hot is ?

it’s so hot you can fry an egg on the sidewalk

it’s so hot I saw a dog chasing a possum and they were both walking

it’s so hot Satan has ordered central air

 

today as I watch the sun creep into a painfully clear sky

and watch the sky turn orange

in a haze of dust and smoke

 

my soul feels stretched and thin

as if I am that proverbial pilgrim

crawling through the sand

in a desert that has no end

 

it is interesting

that in the scriptures

the images of alienation

have to do with baked dryness

 

when we are disassociated from God

we are in a flaming garbage pit

or in a dry and weary land

where there is no water

 

it is interesting too that when the bible pictures

people in such distress

the people of Israel wandering in the desert,

the goats who are cast away

the rich man, gazing across the abyss at Lazarus feasting

 

they got their own their own

through their choices

through lack of trust (the Israelites)

through apathetic greed (Dives)

through neglect of the poor

 

it is also interesting that Sacred seems to have one job

to rescue people from themselves

 

Sacred, cloud and pillar of fire, guiding

Sacred, making a way in the wilderness

Causing springs to flow in the desert

And spring up in human souls

 

Sacred, raising the valleys, making the hills low

Making straight the way

 

Funny, isn’t it

how for many people God is in the business of sending us to hell

(its hot, how hot is it) and religion is nothing more than a way to avoid that

 

When in fact, God is in the business of breaking down the gates of the

hells we have created for ourselves,

and raising us up from the tombs we have made for ourselves

 

and religion should be

(more than anything us)

our way of celebrating our reunion with love

and enjoying our love relationship with God (forever)

 

Nadia Bolz-Weber says it well

Grace isn't about God creating humans and flawed beings and then acting all hurt when we inevitably fail and then stepping in like the hero to grant us grace - like saying, "Oh, it's OK, I'll be the good guy and forgive you." It's God saying, "I love the world too much to let your sin define you and be the final word. I am a God who makes all things new.  

 

God is not a God who casts down, but lifts up

God is not a God who hates, but loves

God is not a God who punishes, but rescues

God is not cruel and arbitrary, but compassionate and faithful

 

God is

Love