Matthew 12:48; Mark 3:33:

"Who is my mother and who are my brethren"?

Matthew 8:21,22:

"And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead".

Lucretius (98-55 B.C):

"And if time should gather up our matter after our death and put it once more into position in which it now is, and the light of life be given to us again, this result even would concern us not at all, when the chain of our self-consciousness has once been snapped asunder".

This quote from old Lucretius, who lived just fifty years before Christ came upon the scene and was probably about the age I am today when he wrote these words, got me to thinking heavily about the words of Christ, quoted above, that always bothered me. Truthfully, I always considered the words of Jesus in these two instances rude, at best, if not downright hateful. As I was riding alongside my brother on our way home from our Dad's 80th yesterday, reading Lucretius, I closed the book and had a "wow" moment. I flashed back to Scripture dealing with the soul. As I was juggling what Scripture says about the soul at death and compared it with religious interpretation of it compared with what old Lucretius stated as Christ was about to appear on the scene, suddenly it all rang clear to me.

Here's what I got in that moment (which I, of course, shared with my brother), and I want some feedback from the group on it. When we expire in this life the memory of it is forgotten for the dead praise not the Lord and there is no knowledge in the grave. However, when we are resurrected in Christ at His second coming we, having put away the sinful nature of this world, are brought forth a new creature in Him. We are shed of our corruption and put on incorruption. Being a brand new creation, the former things are passed away and the memory of it is forgotten.

When I came forth from my mother's womb, I didn't know s**t from shinola. Everything I have lived, done, acted, thought and spoken in my life leading up to the man I am today is a result of the life I've experienced thus far. It is all based on past experience. Before I was born into this life I had no past, but I believe I have a future, a future that extends way beyond the limited number of days left in this life.

I've read over various responses from some of the members, who acknowledge how horrible it would be to "go to heaven" only to learn mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers of this life end up in hell. Hell, you understand, is a totally different topic. I'm speaking of the state of the soul here. How horrible it would be to live forever all the while thinking someone we once loved was not there to live in paradise with us, to share the experience. I totally relate to and agree with these type of reactions. I also find amusing the typical answers given of many, who offer indoctrinated answers for such queries. Yet, for me, something was always lacking. I offer you this:

At the second coming of Christ, we will be re-created new creatures in Him and the memory of this life will be sort of like a system restore on the computer. It simply will not exist. Rather, it will be more like coming out of the womb, only we will come forth from the grave a brand new creation. That is to say we will not know one another in heaven as we did in this life in earth. You, the reader, will mean as much to me as did my mother, father, sister and brother in this life.

My father has been married four times. He has seen three wives go to the grave. Provided he does, one day, come forth to live forever in the Kingdom of God, does this suggest he is to show favor to one wife over another? No, for he will not recognize any one of them over another any more than I should recognize your earthly father over mine.

We are all equals in the Kingdom of Heaven. The next life will begin just as did this one, without sin. Nor will there be any sin to follow. We will be happy in our newly created state just as were the animals, vegetation, fish, birds and man was in their original state. We were all created in a little lower state than the other yet we were all happy and good with the state in which we were created. Just as man was created a little lower than the angels, the angels were created a little lower than God. Everyone was good with that in the beginning. None knew there was even a possibility of something better. Therefore, no one entertained even the thought of striving to attain anything above its created state. It was all good and in perfect harmony.

What is all this talk of religion if not an attempt to get back to as it was in the beginning? What can any of us do on our own to make that happen? Why are any of us congregated here? Do we not all share a desire to live forever? Is this all there is? I expect to know each of you as my brother and sister in the new life to come for all the redeemed of this world. We will all be equals and none of us have want for anything. We will all be happy all the time. In the meantime, my long deceased mother is not with God, nor is she in the bosom of Abraham. She is asleep, resting in peace with no present knowledge of my existence. While my memory of her is not forgotten, her memory of me most certainly is. She will not know me as her son in heaven, nor will I know her as my mother. Who is my mother?

We are extremely limited in our being today due to our fall. It was not a fall from grace for no grace was necessary at our creation. Everything was good. We were one with our Creator. His desire for each of us today is to be one with Him. Each of us has a conscience given us of our Creator thereby offering a way back to Him. Yes, we can choose to deny it, still it is there and there is no denying that it's present. We are all on the road to somewhere beyond life as we know it today. I anticipate a brand new beginning, a beginning that will never end with no memory of this life of sorrow and sin. Surely, for any of us, it is not difficult to admit sorrow and sin exists in our lives today. Imagine life eternal without it. After all who, among us, really wants to die? If so, why? It seems to be human nature to want to cling to life. At least it is so with me. I tire of going to funerals. I'm so tired of attending funerals that I have taken to skipping many of them. I am developing a new concept of life and living, of which I know death to be a very real part in this life. I am coming to the point of celebrating living and content to let the dead bury their dead.

As I've stated before, I'm thankful just to be a part of it all. I'm thankful to be, I'm thankful for your being. I look to the day when I will know you as my brother and sister. I look for the day we will all be as one. Only then will all our individual differences be sorted out for all eternity. The road goes on forever. Ought we not be yearning for this future together today? What did Jesus say? What did Jesus really say? Who was Jesus but to say what was given Him to say of His Father, His God? Who did His mother acknowledge upon given the word she was to bear a son? Did Mary understand the words of her "son" in the moments before His death? Did John? I tend to believe they did. These were dying words. Is there perhaps more significance attached to them? Were those words for only two people, or were they for all mankind?