Black Friday I always thought was a better name than Good Friday. Still not sure – even with my mature wisdom and all that – why discount day is black, and nailing Jesus to the cross is good. Should be the other way around.

Anyway – the verses I read each day are brought to me at great cost. I just switch on the computer, go to the website, click the day’s prayer – and there they are. But … what is the real cost of this freebie for me? Who paid the price and why? And does the “price” add anything to the “product”?

We love a bargain. Why is that? Getting a buzz from paying less than “the price”? And who set “the price” in the first place? Who says that either “the price” or the” discounted price” is anywhere near the real value of that thing?

I wonder if we do that too often with this God Stuff.

Look for a few pennies off. See if there is a try-now-pay-later option. Compare the price between different faiths, different denominations, different celeb preachers. Check the “quality” between one ism and another. Browse the racks of ologies for the one that feels most comfortable. And then negotiate a deal with The Maker.

“Then Jesus told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees; as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”” Luke 21:29-33

Why is Good Friday not Black Friday? Why is the Second Coming always beyond our reach and lifetime?

When I said “Yes”, God Soft Hands Jesus said “Let’s party!” When I said “More, please”, GSHJ flooded me abundantly. When I connected with abandon, GSHJ embraced me. When I cried “Too much – slow down!”, GSHJ waited. And when I said “I think I am beginning to get this”, God Soft Hands Jesus flooded me again. And this time I said “More please, my lover.”

No one comes to the Father but through me.

What if that was “no one knows the second coming but through living the first”?

What if today, right now – and today right now plus a millisecond – and today right now plus another millisecond – all these “right nows” that we have freely available all day and every day … what if living in Him and He in me every millisecond is the first or the second or the last “coming” … ?

I see a fig tree sprouting. And something in me soars. I see life. And something in me soars. I see a fig tree shedding. And something in me sparkles. I see death and rebirth. And something in me connects. Is that the kingdom – is that “God” or “heaven” or “angels” or “dreamtime” or simply Love – eternally in all – unconditionally in all?

Why do we seem to treat this “indwelling” so often like “Black Friday”? Sitting and waiting, hoping and checking, holding back until the right moment, looking for the right moment, the “right something” that is holding us back … from “buying” right now?

Why hold back with God Soft Hands Jesus? There is no price.

Not unless you call being flooded with unconditional love a burden. Not unless you call connecting with a love so strong it crosses continents, time zones, and time itself a “sacrifice”.

Sacrifice?  Yes there is sacrifice.  Some do die. Some have died.  Some are tortured. Some are isolated. Some are in terrible pain. Some cry tears of “When, Father, when?”

But …

If (like me) you are reading this on a computer, then you have electricity. You have somewhere to read that computer.  And you have access to a computer or laptop or tablet or smartphone. You probably had the choice of what “tech gadget” you wanted. You probably had the choice of what “price you paid” for that gadget.

Just like me. I have that choice. So now – let’s talk sacrifice and burden and cost.

I can tell you the exact price I am paying for my relationship with my Father – right now, today, this moment (and this moment plus a millisecond).

Nada.  Zilch. Diddly-squat. Zero. There is no price.

Not unless you call being flooded with unconditional love a burden.

How about you?