.by Rev. Bob Johnson
Prose from Sermon on Wednesday, September 11, 2002
I DREAMT GOD TOOK MY SOUL TO HELL. TO MY RIGHT AMONG THE TREES I SAW MEN AND
WOMEN WORKING. AND I SAID TO GOD, "I should like to go and work with them!
Hell must be a very delightful place, the grass is so green."
GOD SAID, "Nothing grows in the garden they are making."
God and I stood looking; And I saw them working among the bushes, digging holes,
but they set nothing in those holes they were digging;
And when the holes were deep enough, they covered them over with sticks and
foliage, a cleverly camouflaged trap.
Each person walked off in a different direction, they walked with obvious suspicion
and hesitancy, for each had a suspicion that his or her neighbor might have
dug the hole for them.
SO I ASKED GOD, "Why is it that they do this?"
GOD SAID, "They make these pitfalls that divide such as racism. sexism,
ageism, and a hundred other divisive traps, all of which create disposable and
irrelevant persons, for they want a brother or sister to sink."
So I asked God once more, "Why do they do this?'
GOD SAID, "Because each person thinks that if a brother or sister sinks,
they will rise.
I asked God, "Is this true?"
GOD SAID, "No, they will not rise. And when they do not, they will blame
me, or each other for their failures. Humanity's inhumanity toward each other
will continue."
So, I asked God, "What is the path that they are following to believe such
things/"
GOD SAID, 'They follow a path of hatred and fragmentation, For they have been
deaf to the prophets who said, "He (God) will judge between the nations
and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat that their swords
(or is it bombs, missiles, and bullets) into plow shares, and their spears (or
is it pistols and knives) into pruning hooks (or is it hammers, nails, screws,
and other materials for building homes for those who have no homes). Nation
will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore."
Again, I asked God, "Isn't that statement about 3000 years old?"
GOD SAID, "Yes, but then they have not learned that the only difference
between a rut and a grave is the depth of the hole."
And I said, "I am sad, and can only hope that you who are the God of love,
will be allowed to enter all human hearts. How different our world would be
if your love ruled.
GOD SAID, "Amen!"
Do you have a question or a statement? Send email to Pastor Bob Johnson at
.