Epitaphs and Eulogies are too late

I am getting ready to do a memorial service for a friends mother and I got to thinking, “epitaphs and eulogies are too late.” They usually say such wonderful things about people after they are dead. We should have a place where people can say nice things about others before they are dead. I thought about creating a website “livingeulogies.com” and let people write their thoughts down before their loved ones die.

I have already started writing my wife’s. I keep it on my Palm Pilot and I add to it every time I think of something I love about her. After thinking about it, it dawned on me that I should share it with her now. So here it is. Hopefully it will inspire you to do the same for those you love.

An Incredible Woman
I have the privilege of being married to the most incredible woman that ever lived on earth. She hears the voice of God and longs for His presence. Her life is an expression of her Maker and she values His presence in others. For her, doing the "right" thing has little to do with political correctness or situational appropriateness. For her, it is always about what God is speaking in the moment. She breathes and bleeds the grace of God. Her heart is bigger than one life can express and she feels deeper than one life can handle. She is an empath and a maverick. She will get inside your heart and never let go. Don't bother asking her for her political views, you won't get the time of day. But talk to her about heart and soul and you'd better be prepared to stay a while. While her unconventional methodology may go against the grain of conservative, fundamental thinking, at the core of all she does is a God who lives outside the box. And where He is, is where she wants to be. I am in love with a woman I can't contain, nor do I want to. She is the epitome of my greatest hero's and the axis of me deepest desires.

Maybe I should start writing my own. That way I have some idea of what people will say about me after I die.

Jim

Band Wagons can be dangerous

I received an email recently about boycotting the new stamp from the Post Office. Here is the stamp below. It commemorates the Muslim Holiday. Apparently, some people feel this is an offense to the American people. I will let you read the email.

This takes the cake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How ironic is this??!! They don't even believe in Christ and they're getting their own Christmas stamp, but don't dream of posting the ten commandments on federal property?

If there is only one thing you forward today.....let it be this!

REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of PanAm Flight 103!
REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993!
REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the Marine barracks in Lebanon!
REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the military barracks in Saudi Arabia!
REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the American Embassies in Africa!
REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the USS COLE!
REMEMBER the MUSLIM attack on 9/11/2001!
REMEMBER all the AMERICAN lives that were lost in those vicious MUSLIM attacks!

Now the United States Postal Service REMEMBERS and HONORS the EID MUSLIM holiday season with a commemorative first class holiday postage stamp.

REMEMBER to adamantly and vocally BOYCOTT this stamp when purchasing your stamps at the post office. To use this stamp would be a slap in the face to all those
AMERICANS who died at the hands of those whom this stamp honors.

REMEMBER to pass this along to every patriotic AMERICAN you know

I can understand the feelings behind this email and I fully support an effort to remember the men, women and children who have lost their lives because of these atrocities.

I do struggle though, with the widespread anti-Muslim propaganda being spread across the internet by well meaning people. Muslims might not believe in the same God we do, but they are not all radical extremists that go around killing people.

If others were to use the same logic, the following email could be sent out.

Remember the Crusades – Holy war in the name of Christ
Remember the Inquisitions – Christian justice against “blasphemers”
Remember the Nazi war camps – Mass genocide against the “Jesus killers”
Remember the abortion clinic bombings – righteous killings in Jesus name
Remember the woman who killed her children because Jesus told her to…

If Christians are this bad then we should boycott Christianity and any symbol for it.

Yet we all know that these illustrations do not show a true picture of what Christianity is all about. Nor do they represent our views of God. But they have cast a dark shadow on the people of God that we need to cast off. Rather than standing in defiance against a stamp, why not look for opportunities to open dialog with people who believe differently and let them see the true picture of Jesus.

He was not an anti-Samaritan activist. In fact, he was the opposite. He did not campaign against the government, he supported it. He was not a people hater. In fact, the only people he ever got angry at were religious leaders who showed no compassion for others. A lesson we could all learn.

They will know we are Christians by our hatred of others who do not believe the same way we do. No, it’s our love that is supposed to shine through.

I am not condoning violence against others by not boycotting the stamp. There is a time and place for justice and action, but it needs to be at the right time and toward the right people.

America is about freedom not about Christianity. We are the melting pot of nations, peoples and beliefs. Religious freedom is a foundation of our country. I think the stamp is appropriate to who we are as a nation, not who we are as Christians. The Post Office is a business, not a political institution. Are they making a statement? Probably. But I think it’s not a bad one. The war we are waging is not against the Muslim people. It’s against terrorism. The stamp does not represent terrorism; it symbolizes the beliefs of a significant portion of our population which is no different than a number of the stamps that the Post Office has printed over the years.

You want to make a statement? Start a non-profit organization to collect donations for victims’ families, start a campaign to show support for the war on terrorism or start educating people on the differences between the Muslim extremists and the Muslim faith and the differences between the radical “Christian” activists and true faith in God. Now those things would send far more positive ripples than any stamp boycott.

Sorry for the soapbox, you caught me on a bad day.

Jim

God follower, fellow human being, USA citizen and Californian (well, that explains everything.)