The Walking Dead

So today was a weird ministry day.

I spent the first part of the day visiting with an ex-boss from 7 years ago who also happens to be my insurance agent- he’s a great guy.

He is originally from Jordan, but has been in the US for a long time. Religion and Spirituality have always been kind of an off-limits topic for the both of us. I was never sure if he was Muslim or not. That would not have any bearing on our friendship if he was or was not. I just wanted to know. It turns out, after our conversation today, that he is not a Muslim.

He considers himself irreligous. After a great conversation involving global cultures and religions I learned that he was a Relativist: The epitomy of the Post-Modern World. Basically he believes that all religions have some good and some bad in them, but ultimately; whatever you believe is good and true- is good and true to you.

It’s hard to talk with someone like this about Christ, if you don’t have a steady relationship with this person. Drive-by approaches to evangelism where you show the ‘plan of salvation’ and are in a race to get the person to say the ‘sinner’s prayer’ do not usually work towards the Post-Modern Relativist. It takes The Holy Spirit, lots of love, lots of discernment, lots of prayer, lots of Biblical knowledge, and lots of time (although I do acknowledge that this COULD be a instantaneous conversion, but it’s highly unlikely).

Everytime you try to share your faith in Jesus with a Relativist, they appreciate your ‘views’ because they are ‘true to you’, but to get them to commit to any one particular belief system or faith themself is difficult.

Good thing that Truth is not relative and that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. I pray that those who are lost in relativism would come to see that no one can come before the Father, but through Jesus Christ.

Note: I cannot determine the eternal salvation and judgement of anyone. Only Christ can. But I can examine lives and beliefs according to Scripture, use discernment, and see fruit (or the lack of it) of the Spirit present in a true- there’s that word again- Believer’s life. It’s not my job to judge ‘non-Christians’, only to spread the seeds of the kingdom of God wherever I go.

The second part of my day was spent visiting a dear friend and parishoner who I have known for 15 years. I CAN see the fruits of the Spirit and the Grace of God very active in this man’s life. This wonderful man has sadly struggled severely with bi-polar disorder and schizophrenia  for over 30 years. And to make things worse, he has been in the hospital and in rehab facillities for over a year struggling with pancreatitis, being near death multiple times. He has not eaten solid foods in over 1 year and has drank hardly any water. Most of his nutrients and fluid come intravenously and his bowels have been completely blocked for over 3 months.

My dear friend is in horrible shape and I do honestly not know why the Lord has kept him alive or has allowed him to suffer this way. It seems unfair and everytime I visit him I reassure him that this illness is not because of him, that it could happen to anyone: the rain falls on the just and the unjust afterall.

So I went to visit him at a rehab facillity in Portland. Rehab Centers and ICU’s in hospitals are terrible places. I am not superstitious, but I do acknowledge the sickening reality of evil and even demonic spirits and manifestations. The reason I mention this is because, when I visit ICUs and Rehab Centers, I can literally feel death. It’s almost as if there is an actual death precense walking with me through the horrible cooridors of these facillities.

These are the places Americans go to die. Lions send aging and dying members from their prides to roam the wilderness alone until death takes them home. But, people, not lions, send their aging and their dying into nursing homes and rehab centers…to die.

Some cultures around the world, in particular Asian and Latin cultures, take care of their aging and their dying. They invite them into their homes to feed them, bathe them, care for their healthcare needs, and love them. Americans? We send them off to death factories so we can live ‘The American Dream’.

The halls of this place todday were no exception. I saw horrible things. I saw the walking dead: Grown middle aged men lying in a beds wearing nothing but diapers; Hansome men in their 60′s and 70′s having earthquake like tremors while trying watch their favorite baseball team; countless dying bodies lying on beds with their faces caved in and their souls no where to be found; old grandmothers caring for their closest loved one with tender gentleness and love: stuffed toy animals; mindless elderly human drones sitting in wheelchairs looking right through those who walk by and babbling some unintelligible language…these places really are horrible and are filled with the walking dead.

Grace and peace to those who once contributed to building our nation and who are now locked up in death factories to wander the halls until their time is up.

Grace and peace to those who devote their time to caring for those suffering and close to death.

Grace and peace to my friend Earl.