PK - chasing a rabbit trail

The preacher's Kid in me rears its head now and then. Shades of a youth spent listening to spiritual discourse, conjecture and debate. Dormant memories of dinnertime talk with visiting pastors, preachers and prophets. Hours spent at the feet of some of the country's most enlightened spiritual teachers. What I didn't understand at the time still filtered in to stew and ferment and bloom into later awareness.

The spirit is timeless. Perfect recall wells up and I hear a voice leap in me, an excited answer to a question posed.

This morning the PK in me wakened upon hearing a popular religious morning show host. He must be nearly an octogenarian by now, old Pat. I was flipping channels, looking for some weather, when I caught a viewer question that had been sent to Pat.

The viewer dove right into the depths of Christian dogma, and asked about the scripture that the dead in Christ shall rise first, upon the second coming. (Are you still with me?) It was the viewer's belief that if one was already dead, and had gone to be with the Lord, what then of this "dead rising" bit?

My first chuckle came with the mental image of zombies rising from the grave, and the realization of where that particular sci-fi freak show probably stemmed. I kept listening, to see if Pat had any thoughts I agreed with. He tied himself into an unintentional knot, did Pat. His early reply was that indeed one's spirit would go to God immediately. But that upon the second coming, God would resurrect and recreate bodies. Hmm. Okay.

But the kicker was throw in by his co-host, who asked if the bodies would be thin, perfect, young, old - or what? Careful Pat, careful here! No, Pat no! Don't answer!

But he did.

And (surprisingly), by saying that the condition of the body would be of no concern, because it would be a spiritual resurrection. Of a spiritual body. Well now, Pat. If you've just said there would be a resurrection from the actual grave, you can hardly then say it would be only a spiritual resurrection - as a spirit would have no use for a body, right? Pick one, fellow, you can't have it both ways.

And by pick one, I mean yay - zombies!

Umm, yeah, those years spent in listening to all manner of discourse? Pretty much resulted in the opinion that very little of dogma is sacred. Certainly not some man's interpretation of a scripture. Only that voice that leaps inside when a truth is heard, and resonates. The sacred spirit within.

That's really all it takes.

This one's for my fellow on his birthday. My favorite conversationalist on all things timeless and meaningful. Many more happy returns Rickey, many more!