Do you think that every death is a tragedy? Every life ends with one and you struggle with a sense of tragedy when a child or young person or even an adult in the prime of life is taken suddenly. I am the author of life. I created it, and I built a world that sustains it. Yet I also gave it a finite span, and this too is a part of my plan and it is good. Every race has a finish line. Paul approached his knowing that he had run a good race and was ready to depart. The certainty that life in this world will come to an end is mirrored by the certainty of a better one to come that will not end where my servants, full of days or not, will enter into rest. 

Have you noticed how much effort goes into the celebration of Christmas, and yet how little of it relates directly to my arrival and the following redemption? Lights and trees and shopping and eating are far enough removed from my advent that even unbelievers are fully involved in the celebration without being engaged in the true meaning. Yet you do not have to be judgmental of them or the holiday because of this. What aspects of redemption do you see manifested at Christmas? This is a time when all Christians can join together to recognize the one thing they agree on most of all, and celebrate my arrival in peace, harmony, and unity.

When you were in school, did your teachers encourage you to ask questions? They knew that was the process by which you learned. This is still true, and you should cultivate curiosity and inquisitiveness as lifelong habits. How does this relate to your faith? Are you presented a set of doctrines as a settled matter and discouraged from pondering the same questions yourself? My word teaches you to follow me. This involves obedience to me but it also involves the pursuit of understanding. This only occurs as you are willing to consider unresolved questions. Be patient and don’t expect the answers to come as quickly as they did when you were a child in school. 

My word gives very clear teaching that you are to care for the poor. If they need money and you give money to organizations chartered to help them, does that allow you to fulfill this commandment without coming into direct contact with the poor? I do not pose this question to condemn you. Giving money is more than lip service. It is putting your money where your mouth is. Organizations can help you to be as wise as serpents to make your giving effective and avoid being taken advantage of. Just don’t allow this to be a substitute for direct personal contact with those in need.