Easter Story

Once upon a time, actually before time existed, there was God.  He is not human, not male, not female...yet He is Mother and Father, God and Goddess.  Actually, He is not a "he" but IT just doesn't sound very nice.
Rather than He or She, God is I AM.  God is Spirit, Parent, Word, Love.

By nature, God is driven to create.  Our world is his masterpiece.  (Perhaps not his only masterpiece, but that is another story.)  By nature, God is driven to LOVE, but love is meaningless without someone to love. 

"Let's create some wonderful critters that I can love!" God stage-whispers to himself.  "Better yet, let's make them creative and loving...just like me!  Let's make a beautiful world for them to enjoy.  Let's make them masters of their own hearts...and let's allow them to love me in return...because I AM LOVE...and that is what will make them most happy."
Enter humans,
with great potential to love and be loved.

Now, if you have ever loved, you know that love has risks, love goes beyond reason, love perseveres no matter the cost...and love is absolutely wonderful.  When we love, we become our best, we become what we are meant to be.  God could have created us without choice, just drones that follow his will.  But he wanted us to enjoy the wild adventure, the ups and downs, the beautiful offset by the tragic, the glory of light in contrast to the depravity of darkness.
Enter evil,
the opposite of love.

"Wait a minute! Are you saying God created Evil!?" the audience protests.  Tomatoes are thrown onto the stage.

Whether he created it or simply allowed it, it would not be in our world if God didn't want it to be...if it did not somehow serve a greater purpose.  Is it not hardship that draws a family close?  Is it not death that makes us consider our souls?  Is it not an enemy who shows us our true friends?  Is it not pain that leads us to healing?  This wild adventure is not tame, there are roses with thorns.  Evil is not something that slithered into the world when God wasn't looking.  God was not taken by surprise when Eve bit into the forbidden fruit.  His plan was set into motion from the very beginning.  He knew all that would happen, and he knew it would all be worth it in the end.
Because Love perseveres no matter the cost.

And so, time passes, and humans thrive with truth and love written on their hearts, and humans thrive without  truth and love.  Families grow and prosper, armies grow and destroy.  Hearts are blossomed and hearts are hardened.  And God is still not surprised.  But yet, he waits.  Why bother inventing time if not for history to reveal its truth?  History has revealed that humans need God, because they need love, because God is love.  That's it.  So simple.  Perhaps too simple for some.  Simplicity is not marketable.  Simplicity has no hierarchy.  Simplicity doesn't say "I'm in and you're out."
Enter religion.

Religion is living by rules rather than by love. But love has no boundary lines and doesn't play by the rules.  Setting rules on love kills it.  Keeping love caged with law kills it.  Like evil, religion is a tool that God may use to reveal truth, but not an end to itself.  Truth transcends religion, truth and love is true where ever it is found, even in the blackest pit or the highest steeple.
So, what about Jesus?

Jesus is God as a human, sent to show us the way.  God with a body, sent as a sacrifice.  Jesus taught with authority, he healed the sick, made the lame walk, the blind see.  He got really riled up around the religious people.  Actually, they were the only ones that really ticked him off.  Not the prostitutes or tax collectors or lepers.  Not the guys who cut a freaking HOLE in the roof to lower their crippled friend down in the middle of Jesus' teaching.  Not the Samaritan woman who was known for sleeping around.  Not the people who followed him around mostly looking for another meal.  Not even Judas, who sold him out.

No.  It was the religious folk who just didn't get it.  It was the religious tables that Jesus flipped.  They were expecting a king, and Jesus washed feet.  They were expecting to be rewarded for keeping the rules and Jesus said it is more important to love.  They were expecting to be set free from Roman rule, and Jesus taught that the Kingdom of God is in our hearts.
And so, the religious people killed him.
And God was not surprised.
This was his plan all along.

And then...
Jesus conquered death.  He rose to life from the grave.  And he changed the world.

I don't begin to fully understand this plan.  But, for some reason, this is how we know what love is (and therefore who God is): Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. He didn't come to start a new religion, but to set us free.  He came to set EVERYONE free.  The religious people will tell you that you need to join a certain group or say certain words for this to be true.  But when it comes to the great truths of the world, they are true always for everyone.  Like gravity.  It's not true only for those who believe it.  It is just plain true.  Simple.
But why should we believe if it doesn't matter whether we believe or not?

I'm NOT saying belief doesn't matter!  I'm saying that our restoration doesn't hinge on ANYTHING we can DO.  But belief changes our perspective.  Believing in and following Jesus' teachings changes our life.  He doesn't change us because he can't stand us, or because he has some "holier than thou" attitude (though, if anyone should, I guess it'd be God!)...He changes us, he grows our hearts, he rounds our sharp corners, he shows us joy, he strengthens us through hardships, he IS....so that we may LIVE and live the best life possible!  Because humans are most fulfilled when living free and living loved!  This is the GOOD NEWS that I can't keep to myself.

Sin

Words are important to me because they are the key to good communication, which is also very important to me.  Words can be destructive, enlightening, beautiful, grotesque.  Some words have an emotional definition beyond the textbook meaning.  They can make us angry or lift us up.  How can such seemingly small things have so much power?

The word that has been on my mind a lot lately is SIN.  Humor me and take a moment to think and feel what that word means to you.  I think it makes some people angry, guilty, defensive.  Can you define it?  I think most people would agree that whatever sin is, God does not like it.  I also think most people define sin as a verb (things we do).  I'm beginning to think it is a noun.  It is a concept, it is a thing, a condition.  It is our self-destructive nature.  It is what causes us to make bad decisions.  It is also deceptive.  It can seem like a good idea at the time.  But it always leads to destruction.

And that is why God doesn't like it.  Not because we let him down or because he is repulsed by us.  Not because sin is something we need to be punished for, but rather we need a cure, a protection from it.
He hates sin because it hurts us.
I think that's a huge point a lot of people miss.
Such a small word,
with a huge definition,
that can shape entire belief systems,
usually in the wrong way, it seems.