The secret

Colossians 2: 3-4 I want you woven into a tapestry of love, in touch with everything there is to know of God. Then you will have minds confident and at rest, focused on Christ, God's great mystery. All the richest treasures of wisdom and knowledge are embedded in that mystery and nowhere elso. And we've been shown the mystery. I'm telling you this because I don't want anyone leading you off on some wild goose chase, after other so-called mysteries, or "the secret."

If you have visited a book store lately, you've seen many books with "The Secret" in the title. I haven't read these because I am leery of "self-help" books that are not based on Christian principles. The popularity of these types of books is evidence that humans are searching for something of significance. The verses make me realize that people have been going on wild goose chases for over 2000 years, looking for answers to "meaning of life" question. If I am going to follow a teaching--religious, political, philosophical--I have to see evidence of love. Christianity is based on love--love your neighbor as yourself. I don't know about you, but it is easy to love myself--to put myself first. True evidence of a Christian is their love of people, all people, not just the loveable. I don't see evidence of love in everyone who claims Christ; I don't even see it in myself all the time. I think the first part of these verses is the answer for all of us. We need to be "woven into the tapestry of love, in touch with everything there is to know of God." That takes effort. We have to actively pursue God's mysteries through worship, study, reading, interraction with other Christians. It would be nice if God would just reveal truths to us like we download information into a computer. Just push a button, and everything you need to know becomes part of your internal hard drive. That may be what happens when we cross over into heaven. Everything that we puzzled over in life becomes clear. The things we thought were important here will be revealed to us as insignificant. I have noticed that since Jason's death, I have a new perspective. The things that used to worry me seem trivial. It has also been true for my family and friends. When I see someone that is going through a trial now, they all say the same thing. "My problems are trivial compared to what you have been through." Job loss, marital troubles, financial troubles, problems with kids, bad grades--all of these are troublesome to us, but when you put them next to losing Jason--they are all trivial. My sister Phyllis always had a saying "If your problem can be solved with money, it is not a problem." How much of my life have I spent worrying about things of this world that are trivial. My eyes are open now to what is important. My relationship with-- God, my husband, my children, my family and my friends--those are the important things in my life. Everything else doesn't deserve my attention. Unfortunately, I have had to learn this lesson the hard way--the way I have learned all the important lesson of my life. Don't you think God gets so frustrated with us--he has revealed the mystery of life to us in His word, and we look there last.