A Good Kick in the Teeth

Metaphorically speaking, when was the last time you were kicked in the teeth?  When was the last time your self-assurance, over-confidence, or false sense of reality came crashing down?  The past year has been for me one kick after another.  Let me share a few self-discoveries from my chiclets being rearranged.  First and most surprising, the world actually doesn't revolve around me...shocking but true.  Second, having the title "Reverend" in front of your name does not make you more important or necessary than the other 7 billion people living on the planet.  Third, we are all self-deceived and the most toxic self-deceptions are born out of religiosity.  Fourth (an extension of #3), the pursuit of religion is a house of cards waiting to crumble.  Fifth, there is a God who wants to be your Father.  His love is incomparable, incomprehensible, unmistakable, life-altering, and never ceasing.  It doesn't run from pain or hide from darkness.  It doesn't need excuses or look for faults.  It doesn't shift with the tides or change with the wind.  With my teeth hanging on by a thread, I have learned there is a Father who doesn't ostracize, exclude, deny, or discriminate; but who wants to love personally, intimately, and for all eternity.