Preaching by example

I self-identify as a pantheist and a skeptic. I am totally awed by nature as evidence of scientific divinity. I'm wary of well-meaning religious people who have little or no sense of what they really believe. I was baptized Catholic, raised Protestant (non-denominational, Assemblies of God, Latter Rain, back to non-denominational), attended and graduated from a university owned by the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma, went through RCIA for full Catholic standing, and worked in a Roman Catholic diocesan liturgy office for 5 years. I've received attunements in both Reiki and Integrated Energy Therapy, I can do the math to cast an actual birth chart (sun-sign only horoscopes be damned), and I can read and interpret both natal charts and tarot cards, though I haven't in some time. I've spent time on the forums at the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) website and have very much enjoyed the debunking done re: vaccines, homeopathy, etc.

My family and friends have enriched my life by their varying faiths (primarily Buddhist, Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Jehovah's Witness, Methodist, Baptist, Jewish, Baha'i, Pagan, New Age, Unity).  A number of my friends have enriched my life by their non-faith and critical thinking and love of science and the scientific method.  My husband is an atheist / secular humanist skeptic who has extensively studied comparative religion and who lives by Wakan Tanka.

The following part of a conversation on Facebook will probably be incorporated into an article or book, somehow.  Will work on that another time, when life slows down to a shade below crazy pace.

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KHW: For all my theologian friends: Is the phrase "live like you're dying" theologically sound? Part of me thinks not mainly because of Christ's comment regarding abundant life. I don't have an answer.

Me:  Theologically (from what I've learned via osmosis, anyway), Christ was fully divine yet fully human. I would assume that while Christ was alive on this earth, he had intimate access to the fullness of the rest of himself (God the Father, God the Holy Spirit), especially with the words he speaks in John 14.

Christ also knew on whatever level that he would have to eventually physically die an unnatural death, and at the end of that chapter it seems clear that he knew it would occur relatively soon. The "live like you're dying" would apply to Christ's human nature, like it would apply to all of us.

From my cancer survivor perspective, living as if every day could be the last is something I'd like to see more people doing. As odd as it sounds, this "living like I'm dying" leads to my having "abundant life." There's little to no time for petty arguments, or things that are really not a big deal in the scheme of things. Everything that I have as a priority is so much more important now because of the awareness of "wow, I really do have an expiration date, so definitely need to make the most of life while I'm here."

Sometimes it takes the experience of a serious health condition or a death for a person to "get it" and I view the crucifixion as the supreme example of this for us, for understanding that we're here for a short time to make this world a better place (to me, literally bringing about heaven on earth as much as possible). Christ lived with that knowledge of having a physical expiration date, and I see that as why he urgently wanted/wants people to spread the gospel. To me, the gospel (good news) is that abundant life is available to all of us, if we just crucify the things in our lives that seem important but aren't really, and work together to manifest the Kingdom here while we're alive.