Real Life by Peggi Tustan

Welcome to Real Life . Does God laugh out loud? I never pictured him so. I imagined him stern and sober.  Sharing a laugh (and ice cream) with my son Yet, he created us with a sense of humor. God endowed us with the capacity for over-the-top, jumping up and down joy. We bear his image. I dearly love to laugh. Why, then, should I consider it strange to imagine God enjoying a full belly laugh? Part of the barrier that blocked me from experiencing God’s love was the way I imaged him. He is holy. And holiness has a reputation for quietness, solemnity, and seriousness—no goofing around. When I was still a young believer in Christ, my sister Terre and I visited a friend’s church to hear a guest evangelist. Somehow, we got the service time wrong. We arrived late. As we entered the sanctuary, it was jam-packed for the special speaker. The preacher was already rising to speak. Our friend was impossible to locate in the crowd. Since all the rear pews were full, the only open seats lay con

Welcome to Real Life . What does God want from me? Does he want me to clean up my act, get to church, and serve my fellow man? What’s most important? Like a modern political debate, the Pharisees and teachers of the law were posing questions to Jesus in order to trap him into saying something blasphemous, worthy of arrest, or even death. However, one of these teachers recognized the wisdom in Jesus’ answers. He posed a sincere question,  “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understandi