Using the language of heaven inadvertently betrays the skeptic

While watching the news today (June 19), the commentator was reporting on a tragic event in the U.S. A fire had claimed the lives of 9 firefighters. These firemen had wives, children, siblings, parents and other loved ones. The loss and the grief that surrounds this event is immeasurable.

(written a few weeks before the US / Iraq war began)

I haven't thought much about it. And that makes me feel guilty. What do I believe about war? Is war ever justified? Can I as a Christian support a war, if the cause is a righteous cause? Is there such a thing as a righteous cause to go to war?

My wife and I were at home getting ready for Christmas Eve about seven years ago. It was cold in the Leeburn valley late that afternoon and the snow hung heavy on the trees that surrounded our place.

A knock came at the door. The sun had already set. We hadn't heard a car come up the driveway, and it was very unusual for someone to walk to our place from anywhere, particularly in cold weather. A man we had never met before stood in our doorway. He was hardly able to express himself. We brought him in, and it became obvious that he was incoherent not just from overexposure to the elements. He was befuddled mentally. It took me about an hour to understand from him what his particular needs were and we gladly took care of them.

I drove in the streets of the city of London several years ago. What a new and exciting experience! My biggest fear during those days was climbing into the car and entering traffic on the right side of the road instead of the left, and meeting with disaster. It would have been so easy to do. The only way I avoided that was to be constantly alert and conscious of the British rules of the road. It is difficult to learn new habits when old ones run at a deep instinctive level.