.
Hello;
There's hundreds of hikers out there this time of year walking across
America on long distance trail systems like the Pacific Crest Trail, the
Continental Divide Trail, and the Appalachian Trail, et al.
The PCT crosses the Columbia river at the community of Cascade Locks
+/- 50 miles from where I live in the Portland Metro area of Oregon. It's fun
to see hiker trash come straggling into town seeking a place to stock up on
supplies, gorge on hamburgers and pancakes, take a bath, and of course get
a tall ice cream cone from the Eastwind drive-in. The little fastfooder is a
must-do stop over.
HT = Heaven's Trail
I was christened an infant into the Roman Catholic Church in 1944, and
eventually attended catechism to complete First Holy Communion and
Confirmation.
My siblings are Catholic, my mother was Catholic, my youngest brother was
an altar body, my eldest brother entered the priesthood and made it to Friar
before passing away in May 2018 of cancer.
My wife is a former Catholic, her dad was Catholic, his wife was Catholic, my
aunt and uncle were Catholics, My sister-in-law was a "religious" for a
number of years before falling out with the hierarchy that controlled her
order, and my wife's cousins are Catholic; one of them is an ordained
Deacon.
I was loyal to Rome up until I was 24, then one day I was approached by a
Protestant who asked me if I was prepared for Christ's return.
Well; I must've been either asleep or absent the day that the nuns talked
about Jesus coming back because that man's question was the very first
time in my whole life that I can remember somebody telling me.
My initial reaction was alarm because I instinctively knew that were I called
on the carpet for a face-to-face with Jesus, it would not go well for me
because I had a lot to answer for. Well; I don't like being made to feel afraid
so I became indignant and demanded to know why Jesus would come back.
That's when I found out for the very first time that it was in the plan for
Christ to take over the world. (I had somehow missed that in catechism
too.)
Then the Protestant asked me if I was going to heaven. Well; of course I had
no clue because Catholics honestly don't know what to expect when they
pass away. I was crossing my fingers while in the back of my mind dreading
the worst.
Then the man said; "Don't you know that Jesus died for your sins?"
Well; I had been taught in catechism that Jesus died for the sins of the
world; that much I knew; but honestly believed all along that he had been a
victim of unfortunate circumstances. It was a shock to discover that Jesus'
trip to the cross was deliberate, and that his Father was thinking of me when
His son passed away, viz: my sins were among the sins of the world that
Jesus took to the cross with him.
At that very instant-- scarcely a nanosecond --something took over in my
mind as I fully realized, to my great relief, that heaven was no longer out of
reach, rather, well within my grasp!
That was an amazing experience. In just the two or three minutes of
conversation with that Protestant, I obtained an understanding of Jesus'
crucifixion that many tedious catechism classes had somehow failed to get
across. Consequently, my confidence in the Roman Catholic Church was
shattered like a bar of peanut brittle candy dropped to the sidewalk from the
tippy top of the Chrysler building.
Long story short; I eventually went with that man to his church and, side by
side with him and a couple of elders, knelt at the rail down front and prayed
a really simple, naive prayer that went something like this:
"God, I know I'm a sinner. I would like to take advantage of your son's
death"
My prayer wasn't much to brag about; but it was the smartest sixteen words
I'd ever spoken up to that time.
* There are folks at large who have never yet complied with the sermon on
the mount, and know in their hearts they never will. I highly recommend
they follow my example and speak with God by means of words similar to
mine rather than risk their chances at the great white throne event depicted
by Rev 20:11-15 where the lost will be punished by a mode of retribution
akin to a foundry worker falling into a kettle of molten iron. Jesus' crucifixion
has made it possible for God to get people into a position of safety where
they will never again be in danger of that terrible fate.
● John 5:24 . . Amen, amen, I say to you: whoever hears my word, and
believes in the one who sent me, has eternal life and will not come to
condemnation, but has passed from death to life.
Buen Camino
(Pleasant Journey)
_
Hello;
There's hundreds of hikers out there this time of year walking across
America on long distance trail systems like the Pacific Crest Trail, the
Continental Divide Trail, and the Appalachian Trail, et al.
The PCT crosses the Columbia river at the community of Cascade Locks
+/- 50 miles from where I live in the Portland Metro area of Oregon. It's fun
to see hiker trash come straggling into town seeking a place to stock up on
supplies, gorge on hamburgers and pancakes, take a bath, and of course get
a tall ice cream cone from the Eastwind drive-in. The little fastfooder is a
must-do stop over.
HT = Heaven's Trail
I was christened an infant into the Roman Catholic Church in 1944, and
eventually attended catechism to complete First Holy Communion and
Confirmation.
My siblings are Catholic, my mother was Catholic, my youngest brother was
an altar body, my eldest brother entered the priesthood and made it to Friar
before passing away in May 2018 of cancer.
My wife is a former Catholic, her dad was Catholic, his wife was Catholic, my
aunt and uncle were Catholics, My sister-in-law was a "religious" for a
number of years before falling out with the hierarchy that controlled her
order, and my wife's cousins are Catholic; one of them is an ordained
Deacon.
I was loyal to Rome up until I was 24, then one day I was approached by a
Protestant who asked me if I was prepared for Christ's return.
Well; I must've been either asleep or absent the day that the nuns talked
about Jesus coming back because that man's question was the very first
time in my whole life that I can remember somebody telling me.
My initial reaction was alarm because I instinctively knew that were I called
on the carpet for a face-to-face with Jesus, it would not go well for me
because I had a lot to answer for. Well; I don't like being made to feel afraid
so I became indignant and demanded to know why Jesus would come back.
That's when I found out for the very first time that it was in the plan for
Christ to take over the world. (I had somehow missed that in catechism
too.)
Then the Protestant asked me if I was going to heaven. Well; of course I had
no clue because Catholics honestly don't know what to expect when they
pass away. I was crossing my fingers while in the back of my mind dreading
the worst.
Then the man said; "Don't you know that Jesus died for your sins?"
Well; I had been taught in catechism that Jesus died for the sins of the
world; that much I knew; but honestly believed all along that he had been a
victim of unfortunate circumstances. It was a shock to discover that Jesus'
trip to the cross was deliberate, and that his Father was thinking of me when
His son passed away, viz: my sins were among the sins of the world that
Jesus took to the cross with him.
At that very instant-- scarcely a nanosecond --something took over in my
mind as I fully realized, to my great relief, that heaven was no longer out of
reach, rather, well within my grasp!
That was an amazing experience. In just the two or three minutes of
conversation with that Protestant, I obtained an understanding of Jesus'
crucifixion that many tedious catechism classes had somehow failed to get
across. Consequently, my confidence in the Roman Catholic Church was
shattered like a bar of peanut brittle candy dropped to the sidewalk from the
tippy top of the Chrysler building.
Long story short; I eventually went with that man to his church and, side by
side with him and a couple of elders, knelt at the rail down front and prayed
a really simple, naive prayer that went something like this:
"God, I know I'm a sinner. I would like to take advantage of your son's
death"
My prayer wasn't much to brag about; but it was the smartest sixteen words
I'd ever spoken up to that time.
* There are folks at large who have never yet complied with the sermon on
the mount, and know in their hearts they never will. I highly recommend
they follow my example and speak with God by means of words similar to
mine rather than risk their chances at the great white throne event depicted
by Rev 20:11-15 where the lost will be punished by a mode of retribution
akin to a foundry worker falling into a kettle of molten iron. Jesus' crucifixion
has made it possible for God to get people into a position of safety where
they will never again be in danger of that terrible fate.
● John 5:24 . . Amen, amen, I say to you: whoever hears my word, and
believes in the one who sent me, has eternal life and will not come to
condemnation, but has passed from death to life.
Buen Camino
(Pleasant Journey)
_
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