The Afternoon of Life

I’ve heard many say recently something along the lines of… “I can only do the best I can, loving others, treating people with kindness, and hope that it’s good enough to get me into heaven.”   When we make statements like that, we are saying that we believe our place in heaven is due us because of OUR actions.   The truth is that our place in heaven is warranted because of CHRIST’S actions.   His death, burial and resurrection open the doors of heaven.   Nothing else can get us to heaven.   NOTHING.   Jesus said, “I am THE way, THE truth and THE life.   No one comes to the Father but by ME.” [Emphasis mine.]   That means we cannot get to God through our good deeds or the kind, loving way we treat others.   We cannot “earn” the “mercy” of the Lord, but we are accountable to respond to God’s mercies with repentant, grateful, and obedient hearts. Repentance , faith, gratefulness, and obedience – in light of the numerous mercies that we have experienced – are a RESPONSE t

Tonight I feel vulnerable.   I sit in the darkness and let the memories unfold layer by layer.   They whisper of days gone by.   Most of the memories have a scent or sound associated with them…playing under the dark firs that lined the college football field.   Dad took my brother and me to practices when he was coaching to get us out of mom’s hair.   I hear the sound of young men challenging others…the grunts of pain…the shouts of victory when something works right.   I don’t understand the game at all.   I’m only seven or eight.   But I know the sound of doing something right.   I also smell the decaying leaves and the dirt under the trees in the shadows.   The shadows are not a good place to be.   Dad can’t see us there so he doesn’t know.   The woods are a scary place too.   Things happen to little girls in the woods that shouldn’t happen to little girls.   Little boys can be mean.   This is a lesson learned early in life. I have to be a good girl.   It’s hard to be a good gi