April 19

Psalm 88
Vs: 9B-12
I call to you, O Lord, every day;
I spread my hands to you.
Do you show your wonders to the dead?
Do those who are dead rise up and praise you?
Selah
Is your love declared in the grave,
Your faithfulness in Destruction?
Are your wonders known in the place of darkness,
Or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?

At my ecumenical dinners that Don and I went to this winter, we discussed some of the differences between Judaism and Christianity. Most of them I knew. Including that most orthodox Jews do not believe in ‘heaven’ per se. Sandy, one of the most learned of the Jews at my table, said it really was just not the focus. But even he was uncomfortable with the ‘what comes next’. He said that it was a hard one to wrestle with and with all the stuff in movies and books, Jewish parents are always fielding those questions. His stock answers are that now is what matters and the rest is up to God.
The psalmist was Jewish. He was/is concerned with what happens next. *I* am concerned with what happens next.
Most of the time, I buy the heaven stuff lock, stock and barrel.
But there are times…..

One of my heroes of all times is Carl Sagan. I loved his PBS series Cosmos. I loved his view on science, the universe and how incredibly awesome and awestruck he was by all the stuff he was learning, saw and did as a scientist.
Carl Sagan was an atheist. His wife Ann Druyan is a devout Christian. When Carl was dying of cancer, lots of people wrote to him and said they were praying for him. His response was that it sure comforted his wife, and he hoped it comforted them but it really didn’t matter much to him. He was just going back to being “star stuff”.
That such a mind, such an intelligent, living breathing being would just vanish ‘pooff’ hurts.
That I would just vanish, hurts.

Do you wrestle with this question or is it firmly fixed in your mind?

One of my facebook friends sent me the link to this pastor’s blog post.
Go check it out.