Eternal Life
I wish that it didn’t take something like my dad’s passing to light the fire under my butt to start a blog, but I guess that’s the human way. This blog was a long time coming and The Roofless Church is way overdue. Before getting in too deep, I’ll explain the idea behind The Roofless Church. Basically, The Roofless Church is the house of all God’s Children. It’s a place within each of us where we are free to admit that God doesn’t make mistakes and therefore each of us is as perfect as we were intended to be. There’s no judgment here and there’s no guilt. Here, that which unites us eclipses any thought that we are less than One People.
All my life I have struggled to reconcile the thoughts that we use to reduce ourselves and others to less than Whole. In my efforts I have witnessed time and time again that people know who they are at their core. I hope that with this blog, we will create an ongoing dialogue that will serve to remind us that we are more than we can imagine and–to borrow from John Mayer–bigger than our bodies give us credit for. That’s why I am here for anyone that wants to see themselves through loving eyes.
Before my dad passed, I had started to forget the beauty in life. I was starting to think that life was going to work and coming home over and over until you retire and wait for the Reaper. I stopped paying attention to the little miracles that are a part of every moment. I guess if you hear people saying “same ol’ same ol'” enough times, that’s all you end up seeing too. But five minutes after my dad passed away, we received a reminder that has left an indelible mark on my brain–the morning paper was in the driveway with the words “STILL ALIVE” right across the front. It can’t get any clearer than that.
From that moment I decided that one way or the other I was not going to let myself forget to keep my eyes open for those reminders that life is a continuous string of miracles. We are not forsaken here. We are worthy of all the love in the world. That is all of our inheritance.
Categories: Spiritual, The Roofless Church, Wholeness
The Roofless Church 
Wow! That’s awesome. I am very proud of you. Ironically, I was going through my files a few weeks ago and I saw a folder with your name on it and inside was your first outline about your thoughts to begin “The roofless church”. It’s amazing how we put our ideals on hold to walk as zombies through life until one day we are awakened by the death of those to whom we feel connected in some way.
The death of your dad and in the same week, my very close friend, changed my perspective somewhat as well. I believe that life, itself, is a miracle and that we should live it as such, creating our desires as we breathe each miraculous breath. I also believe that death of the body is a miracle and is necessary for the transition of our souls into the presence of our Creator. Hopefully we will live our lives and believe the Truth which will set our souls free to make a smooth transition into the next life of the Spirit.
Before my friend passed, we were praying for a miracle because her husband so much wanted her to stay on this side, but the Spirit spoke to me in the early morning ours and said “the miracle is on the other side.” At my friend’s celebration of life, I understood what those words meant.
She lived her life in total love and compassion for others and upon the death of her body, she brought people together from all walks of life who each had a testimony of how she had impacted their lives for good.
I pray that we each, may live the rest of our time on this earth as if it is our last moment before we stand in judgment before our L-rd and Creator.
Step out of bed with a spring in your step. Be excited about each moment. be grateful for each breath. LIVE!!!!!! and don’t feel guilty about it. Be as a little child again. After all, isn’t that was Yeshua (Jesus) wanted us to do?
Love,
Your mom
Shalom
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Dear Pedro and Jo,
Thank you so much for starting this blog….I’ve never participated in one before, but am very drawn to The Roofless Church by what the both of you have written….Thankyou….I look forward to being part of this loving enterprise.
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Wonderful concept. So glad you had that experience with your Dad’s passing. My Mom has created two miracles in my life, physically, since her death and me starting my now 7+ months journey on the road, showing up to show her support. I also saw my brother twice after he died. Indeed, we are much more than this small life and body!
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Reblogged this on Empower and Balance and commented:
I loved this concept and story!
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Reblogged this on Seriously Tripping Through Life and commented:
When we go through things, we tend to focus on the limitations–the temporal things that are out of our control. We have choice on what we choose to focus our energy. I made mine.
Before my father passed away from an illness he told me some things that I will never forget. He said, “This is not my body. This a body. If it was my body I could do with it whatever I’d like without consequence. Clearly I cannot. This is not my sickness. It is a sickness. If it were mine I could do whatever I’d like with it. I could give it and take it away from this body or any body. Clearly I cannot. My mind is mine because I can do with it whatever I want. I can decide how I want to look at anything–even this sickness and this body even with no body.
If you want to see the first thing he did without his body, it is what prompted my first blog post on The Roofless Church.
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