The Road Less Traveled

Eastertide
June 3, 2014

The end of all things is near; therefore be serious and discipline yourselves for the sake of your prayers. Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaining. Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.   — 1 Peter 4:7-11

I often shy away from end of time discussions. I grew weary of hearing probably too much of it as a child.  Recent conversations have led me to dust it off and consider it once again. I listen to all the criticism of the Affordable Care Act that was passed a few years ago. It was necessary to assure that all Americans have access to health care and not just those who can afford it. No one particularly likes it but it is the bitter pill we must take to cure our tendency as humans to bury our heads in the sand and ignore problems until it may be too late to fix them. The truth is that I attended meetings back in the late 1970’s when Califano was Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. He was trying to grapple with the failures of our health care system then.  Had we done the hard work of facing the issues back them we would not be in the mess we are in today. The same could be said for environmental issues, education, and poverty. Humans seem to need a catastrophe that forces them to action that might not have even been needed had we been prudent in the first place.

Is that what our prophets knew all along? Is that why they declared the end of all things is near? Can we not see that God throughout the ages has shown us the way to an abundant life but we chose sin instead? We seem to choose the crowded freeway strewn with wrecks and broken down cars rather than seeking The Road Less Traveled* that leads to life everlasting. But even though we may still sin, 1 Peter tells us that love covers a multitude of sins. If nothing else, let us discipline ourselves to love.

Prayer: Lover of my Soul, forgive me for burying my head in the sand and guide me through life via The Road Less Traveled*. Amen.

*The Road Less Traveled is the title of a book by M. Scott Peck. Subtitled A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values, and Spiritual Growth, it is now a classic and I highly recommend it.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.