To Life

One day, when heaven's gates are flung open, when the table is set, and all are seated, Jesus will lift his wine glass in welcome and say, "To Life!"

And in that exact moment, all of our preconceived notions of God, our petty boundaries with our neighbor, and the prideful image we have of ourselves will crumble.

When perfect love dispels the fear we've enthroned, we'll realize, when we judged and hated our neighbor, we judged and hated God.

And as we lift our glass in response to life, we will finally become aware of the fact that we have been forgiven since the words were spoken on the cross when the empathy of God peacefully overcame the violence of humankind.

And maybe for the first time in all of our lives, we will truly breathe. And then we will collectively say, "Thank you," as we begin to understand what love truly means.