a.  Nice home.
b.  Thanks. We’re very proud of it.
a.  I know you were brought up Catholic, yet I don’t see anything on the walls, mantle, or lawn that reflects that.
b.  We’re not religious.
a.  Okay. At the very most, we have a few decades left before we die, right? After that, will you be religious?
b.  After I’m dead?
a.  Yes.
b.  Well, I don’t know, I guess so. Isn’t that what heaven is?
a.  Let’s assume that someone who “isn’t religious,” having no living relationship with God on earth, goes to heaven – even though there’s no evidence for this in divine Revelation. If you’re going to be ‘religious’ forever in a world that never ends, wouldn’t it make sense to start now?
b.  We don’t think about it much. Besides, we don’t like to wear religion on our sleeves.
a.  Will you be “wearing” it for all eternity?
b.  I guess so. But now you’re making me think twice.
a.  If your hope is to spend your eternity with God in heaven rather than hell, wouldn’t it be reasonable to be living your religion now? Jesus says in Luke 9:26, “If anyone is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory.”
b.  You mean I won’t automatically go to heaven?
a.  I don’t know who will be in heaven or hell for all eternity, but I do know nothing happens just automatically. One can’t just wait for the next life to be ‘religious’.
b.  You challenge my comfort zone, but your logic is compelling. Since this life is less than a flash compared to eternity, why is all my focus on this world, and how I and my family can benefit here?
a.  Great question. We need to ponder this. After all, we’ll be judged not on what we gave our children and others materially, but what we gave them spiritually.
b.  Thanks for gently helping me put things in proper perspective today. I didn’t want it, but I needed it.
a.  That’s what friends are for. Now let’s help each other focus on the end for which all of us are created.