THE JESUS EXCLUSION

Something really odd happened to me today. I was having a conversation with a co-worker. One of our patients had suddenly died from a choking accident. His wife happened to be with him. I said how hard it must be for her to have him gone so suddenly. She and I are both widowed but we had many weeks notice on the death -- a time to prepare, if that is possible. So I said to her how hard it must be for Mrs. X because she had no preparation time as we did. And she replied that it is okay if she knew that he was a person of faith. She knew personally that her husband was ready, knowing that he was going to be with Jesus. And that how tormented people are when they don't know where their people are -- after death. I must have had a blank look on my face because in a few minutes she said to me, well, my husband knew he was going to Jesus and so I know he is with Jesus and is at peace there. To which I replied that I had never even thought about where my husband was. Never occurred to me to question that. I have just always assumed that when one died one went to God. Oh, but that isn't what he taught us. The "he" being Jesus. and the reference was probably one from this morning's reading from John 14: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me."

Hmmmm..... All well and good. But what about all the Arabs and Jews and Chinese and Koreans and American Indians and East Indians and Eskimos and ALL of the peoples who are not necessarily Christian? They get excluded from heaven? OR are there separate heavens, each to their own kind. I don't think that was what Jesus was teaching. I always thought Jesus was sent to all of us. I thought God made humankind in God's own image. I wonder if this co-worker has a blond, blue eyed Jesus where all of her kind can be in the afterlife exclusively. I know her heaven probably doesn't include GLBT people either. Her loss.

BUT, I did not question any of this aloud. She is a new, raw, widow. If this is comfort for her, so be it. But, I was crushed that her thinking was so narrow as to not include so many of the people that I hold so dear. To not include ME. It set up for me a situation where I am on one side of a theological divide and she is on another. It is hurtful to have a friend like this. And given all this, IS she a friend. I don't know. I have very mixed feelings about all of this right now.

Of one thing, I am sure -- God is an all inclusive God. If the Trinity is, then Jesus is a part of this. But God is still God, and God is all inclusive. If Christians are going to set up a situation where Jesus is the head of a separate entity, I think I will rethink Christianity.