Brian McLaren's "Table for One" article on TPM Cafe yesterday stimulated my annual letter to God herein appended

Dear God;

This is my fourth annual letter to you. I hope you don’t mind one letter per year in December from me even though I know that the concept of time is just a figment of my limited earthly imagination. Your universe is timeless of course which is comforting.

Anyway, more so than my other letters to you, this one is my most optimistic. It seems that things have gotten so bad on our planet earth with the excesses of fundamentalist religions who seek to destroy that there are a group of outstanding leaders and writers who want to rescue the world and their religions from their very obvious self-destructive path.

Among these so called “radicals” are great thinkers from the Christian, Jewish and Islamic faiths. There are too many to name but you know them.

They speak of their great religious tenets being “hijacked” by fundamentalists and seek a return to the roots of religion from which great goodness and healing flow.

In short God – I’m not so sure how it happened, but we screwed up badly.

I have said in the past, God, that religion is both the most destructive force on the planet or the most beneficent force. You have given us the gift of free will to choose.

Well I guess it took us coming close to the brink for these earthly “radical” leaders to promote a return to the best that religions can provide.

Of course all along you knew, God, that we would ultimately choose life over death and that you gave us the great earthly religions to seek your love and more importantly the love of each other and our planet we call earth.

So in closing I know you are well, Dear God, which provides great comfort, and as usual I am looking forward to meeting you. But please God- not too soon since I have a few loose ends I need to tidy up down here.

Love Always;

Rick Lippin

December 2007