Thank you. You are very kind. I would like to state for the record. I AM NOT WRITING A BOOK!! (That last sentence was directed to a friend who reads some of what is said here and she is now prostrate on the floor with laughter.)

I absolutely agree that heaven is a place. A real place. (Someone I believe to be very significant got the keys to that place. ) In fact, I tend to agree very much with the author that suggested that to say heaven was a state of mind was akin to blasphemy. And I don’t even pretend to know what a state of service is.

Heaven IS a place. But it isn’t a place like other places. I don’t pretend to know all about it. I agree that is the dwelling place of blood washed saints….who surround me now like a cloud of witnesses. Life on earth here and my flesh separates me from them. Not vice versa. So where am I if they surround me? And if you think that this is something I FEEL….I’d like to introduce you to the pile of laundry I have, and the dirty dishes, and my three children, the bills, and the dirty socks someone left on the couch AGAIN! This is my way of describing my what I see through the faith that Christ has given me.

What in anything I said made you suggest to me (as if I was doing this) that I can’t get into heaven by relying on the sacraments? Did it sound like I was relying on the sacraments to get me there? I believe I said something like “He gripped me in His Grace and I grabbed back. I hung on.” The sacraments are about living the life He wants to give me.

I have hesitated to post anything like this because I have really wanted to avoid using the word ‘heresy’ with respect to Protestantism….and I know you don’t consider yourself to be Protestant but I need a word here. I don’t want to offend anyone any more than I already have by using a word this inflammatory…so please forgive me in advance but this is really the word I need to use. My separated brothers and sisters are just that….brothers and sisters. Please. I ask your grace as my brothers and sisters to see my heart here and not just my words.

Hilaire Belloc wrote a terrific book called The Great Heresies. In it he defined heresy as a taking away from the whole.

Belloc goes on to define the central principle of the Protestant heresy (sorry but that really is the word used to describe it in Catholic theology) as a rejection of the principle of unity. I think that is very true. But I also think that the rejection of unity allows for a further stripping away from the fullness of the Christian faith.

, you’ve asked a what-if repeatedly. What if you’re right. You’ve told me what you believe. You’ve told me what you think I believe. I’ve told what I believe. Now I’d like to posit a what-if of my own. What if the sacraments really do have purpose and meaning? What if when Christ said “This is My Body” he meant it just like that? What if your teaching is denying your flock things which really would strengthen and deepen their Christian walk? What if you aren’t worshipping your Savior in the manner He intended? What if in the persistent desire to state the Christian faith in the simplest possible terms you have left it simplistic and unable completely and fully to reflect the light of Christ within the believer and the Church as He meant it to be. The light of Christ remains undimmed but his jewel is shattered. From a perfectly cut diamond to many smaller and imperfectly cut jewels….they no longer show the fire within. Faith is simple but not simplistic. God is not the author of chaos but He is the author of True Mystery. Too many times I have seen the label of “chaos” applied to what should be more properly termed “mystery.” Revelation 22:19 (gives a clear warning (well clear to me anyway) regarding the stripping away of the words of that book. I think however, it is not a stretch to extend that warning to ALL of what God has revealed. We must take care when attempting to distill The Truth.