by Rev. Edward Correia

A theology student was invited to study with a rabbi who was very famous for his wisdom and holiness. The student traveled for many miles and days and finally arrived at the rabbi’s home. To his amazement the rabbi lived in a tiny room with a bed, chair, desk, and lamp.

The student asked the rabbi, "Rabbi, excuse my curiosity. Where is all your furniture?"

The rabbi responded, "Where is your furniture".

The student said, "Rabbi, I am a traveler. I’m just passing through".

The rabbi responded, "So am I. So am I".

"Don’t carry too much with you," Jesus says. "You are on a journey."

At one of our UIA meetings we were talking about the large drop out in our high schools.

A woman who works with teenagers said that we need to motivate young people when they are in junior high school to want to stay in school. What she did with her daughter was to put her in the car and drive with her to a beautiful and large house. In the yard was a beautiful sports car and a boat.
"Do you want a house like this one, a car like this one and a boat like this one, when you get older?" asked the mother.

"Of course," the daughter said.

"Then you have to go to school, work hard and get good marks. That will get you a good job and lots of money to get all these things," the mother said in a very convincing tone.

The message is told to us on TV, by successful people, and by advertising. We are important and successful if we have a lot of things around us. The more things the better it is.

What is forgotten is that we are passing through. Our permanent home is with God in eternity. No matter how long we live, it doesn’t compare to the forever that awaits us when our journey has ended.

We can take nothing with us when we make that final part of the journey into eternity.

The only thing that we take with us is the kingdom of God that has grown in us during our journey on earth that will be completed in eternity. That kingdom of God is what Jesus wants us to give one another.

Giving to each other the gift of God who lives within us cures illnesses and expels demons.