My mom had a neighbor friend who spent most mornings sipping coffee at our yellow linoleum kitchen table. They often disagreed about things and occasionally separated after minor skirmishes, but eventually returned to the table for more coffee and chatter.

I learned an important lesson from that neighbor once. Having returned home on break from my first year in seminary, over coffee at that same table, she casually asked if I thought she would be reunited with her deceased husband in heaven. While I had no insider information on the subject, I ventured an opinion.

She immediately started sobbing. What I thought ran counter to her hopes.

I had challenged her sense of reality without even meaning to, and she was crushed. It upset me, too, because I knew I had no more information about what happens on the other side of death than she did. Why........

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