I just finished an Advent retreat, but for some unknown reason, my mind keeps coming back to an old friend, Neal. About twenty years ago, I became friends with a Shri Lankan 7-11 employee, who was a distant relative of the owner: kind of an indentured servant. He was working in the States to make money for his kids’ education, back home with his wife. He was torn, but he was here for them. He also knew that I was looking forward to that seasonal, long awaited, Pumpkin Spice coffee. Every time I would go to 7-11 to get my coffee, he would smile, and melodically announce loudly, with his “Indian” accent, “Coming Soon!” “Coming Soon!”
Can you feel it coming? As a Christian do you sense the increasing anti-Christian culture? As a fiscally responsible citizen, can you sense the hopeless inability of the FED to print fiat money, to inflate our currency, fast enough to keep-up with our virtual debt? As a peace loving American, are you sensing the inability of anyone in government, to stop the nuclear saber-rattling war machine, that dominates both political parties? Is it, “Coming Soon”? Is He, coming soon?
For me, I would say, "yes"! Maybe not the end times, but as Psalm 90 states, “Seventy is the sum of our years, or eighty if we are strong,..” So either way, as I zoom through my 69th year, Christ is coming to me, soon.
If it is the end times, Luke says, “When these things begin to happen, stand erect and hold your head high, for your deliverance is near at hand.” Lk 21;28. And if its not, Jesus instructed the delivered man, formerly possessed by "Legion", “Go home to your family and make it clear to them how much the Lord in his mercy has done for you.” Mark 5:19
Well, here goes! Prayer, and the grace provided by Jesus Christ, has helped me overcome: an addiction to porn, an affinity to “Mary Jane”, a social crutch of alcohol, a scrapping and reordering of moral norms, and more.. In His mercy, He has given me four children, eleven grandchildren, a beautiful wife who loves me, and a Church that continues to provide a channel for grace, reverence, and a refuge.
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