It was a typical Tuesday. I was
standing at my computer, just after breakfast, working on, ironically
enough, on my blog, when suddenly I became dizzy. I stumbled over to
the chair at the table and immediately felt my chest tighten up, like
I had a heavy weight pressing on my chest, and my blood pressure shot
up through the roof. I thought I was having a heart attack.
My wife brought me to the local ER
where they proceeded to hook me up to a heart monitor and EKG, gave
me medication to lower the blood pressure and started running tests
to see what was going on.
I had a lot of time to think, as well
as panic, while I was lying there, as to what comes next, wondering
if I was going to live long enough to see the next day. I wanted to
share with you just a little of what I was thinking while this was
going on.
I wondered if I suddenly found myself
in the presence of G-d what He might say to me or ask. Would He ask
about my political views or my world views on politics? Would He ask
about my portfolio ( or lack thereof) or if I had a 401k? Would He
ask me what my favorite doctrine or religious point of view I have or
even about ones that I don't care for?
I really don't think G-d will be
interested in my political opinions or affiliation. I don't really
believe that He is going to ask me about doctrine or my actual
religious views, or about my non existent portfolio, but I do think I
have a basic idea of what He would want to know ( yes He is G-d and
knows all things anyhow but just bare with me) and this is what I'd
like to share with you.
One of the important beliefs in Judaism
is justice and charity. In fact I would guess that in all major
religions that is a core belief, but in Judaism it is seen as a
commandment, to do good, to love justice and mercy in fact justice
and mercy were even considered more important then sacrifice.
Micah 6:7-8 “Would the Lord be
pleased with thousands of rams, With myriads of streams of oil? Shall
I give my first born for my transgressions, The fruit of my body for
my sins?
He has told you, O man, what is good,
And what the Lord requires of you:Only to do justice and to love
goodness and to walk humbly with your God.”
G-d is not going to hold us accountable
for stupid man made rules and regulations or political parties, what
He is likely to hold us accountable for is just how much good we have
done in this world.
An old time Christian singer by the
name of Don Francisco put it well in a song called “the steeple
song”.
“do
you love your wife, for her and your children are you laying down
your life? What about the others? Are
you livin' as a servant To your sisters and your brothers? Do you
make the poor man beg you for a bone? Do the widow and the orphan cry
alone?
This
is the kind of thing that I believe that G-d will hold us accountable
for both individually but also as a nation. G-d isn't going to care
about our politics, or our doctrines. He isn't going to care about
about what country we come from or what people groups we associate
with. None of that truly matters, what will truly matter, in the end,
for all of us, is what we have done to brighten up the world a little
bit, what good have we done in our small corner of the world. This is
what matters. Everything else, that we seem to think is important is
little more then window dressing in the grand scheme of life.
How
do you want to remembered? As a person who held strong political or
religious views, who had a great portfolio or would you prefer to
remembered by you fellow man and by G-d as someone who was
compassionate, who cared for the widow and the orphan?
G-d
calls us to the latter, not the former.
The
tests came back negative for a heart attack, but positive for high
amounts of stress, I had let foolish things get to me instead of
worrying about the things of G-d that were truly important.
Amazing
the things you can think about when your all wired up in an emergency
room.