Esther Brady Crawford - faintstarlite

Merry Christmas from Wisconsin

Vic and Kathy were kind enough to open their home to me before heading to the airport. I got to see Alec again, and meet more Varis’s – Heather and her husband who introduced me to an addicting game called Blockus. Although I only got a few hours of sleep, the use of Jayme’s bed was much appreciated.

Yesterday I arrived in Milwaukee, WI to spend the holidays with Nick and his family (as pictured). I admit that I am more than excited to be here and surrounded by these amazing people. After spending day after day talking on the phone, it’s such a nice change to be in person and actually together.

Well I hope that everyone had a great Christmas, first night of Chanukah, or first day of Kwanzaa.

Random photos from the past two weeks.

















   

A cupcake cake I made                                     Our “holiday bush/plant”

 


 The first thing I painted on the house – I know, I know.. soooo 6th grade

























 

My brother Jonathan & his wife Jennifer


Cory – my fellow Oregonian-Arab

Me & Jonathan in front of his tree that took a lot of effort to set up

Josh, Sarah & Danielle at a game night I got dragged to… (if you want me to come sometimes you just have to come pick me up)

My own opinion about  heaven:

I agree with Laura when I say that I simply don’t know the answer. I always have better questions than answers. Growing up I took for granted the stereotypical Evangelical viewpoint: “You must accept Jesus in your heart to be saved… all others.. too bad so sad.”

Since then my theology has evolved – thank God – to be more inclusive. I grew up going to a church that had getting “saved” down to a formula. [insert mocking tone] If you did it right, God heard you and cleaned you all up from your nasty little sins, so you could start preparing for your real home – heaven! If not, to the firey flames you go! *dun dun duuun*

Okay, so I might be making light of all of this, but it’s because I have a hard time taking anyone serious who thinks they actually know who is in, and who is out. I like what Vic said - many will be surprised.

I watched the show with my Nana (grandma) - she’s about to turn eighty and has “been serving the Lord since 1952″. She’s been preaching almost as long, and is a woman who is Pentecostal through-and-through. In fact, every year since then, she has read the Bible (KJV only!) completely through at least once.

When the show ended, she suprised me. She turned to Katie (who is Jewish) and myself and said:

“I leave who goes to heaven to God… but I believe we’ll see people from every denomination, and every religion up there.”

Somehow that comforted me. If my Nana, who is a fire-and-brimstone Pentecostal preacher can say that – then by golly, so can I.

Tonight I watched the Barbara Walter’s special: Heaven – Where is it? and How do we get there? She interviewed Catholics, Evangelicals, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and Atheists, and as expected, got a myriad of different answers.

According to ABC’s website – 9 out of 10 Americans believe in heaven – with the vast majority believing they are apart of the group going there.

What precisely does it take to go to heaven? How inclusive, or exclusive do you think God is? How is the Good News a message of hope for all, if most people go to hell?

As I attempted to ease my mind before heading to sleep (which I was never very successful at doing), I began reading the book linked above. The book offers a fairly detailed synopsis of the deadly mix of religious extremism, violence, and Mideast politics, as expressed in the struggle for the Temple Mount – the most sacred space in Jerusalem, and arguably, the world.

Books like the Left Behind series are bestsellers, and it seems that every-other-day I overhear conversations, read bumper stickers, see magazines, or TV programs referencing the “tribulation”, the “rapture”, and/or the “end of the world”.  These ideas have clearly made their way from pulpits to popular culture.