The article I read says:

“A narcissist in a family demands to be the center around which the entire family orbits. He/she needs constant attention and validation.

The narcissist becomes hostile if he does not get the praise and power he so desperately craves.”

A narcissist suffers from a serious character flaw—a mental illness.

In the narcissist’s mind, he is the center of the world. Nothing truly counts but him.

Others have value only in their service to his ego.

A narcissist in a family perverts the whole family system. The family exists only to serve the narcissist.

That’s in a family.

What would happen if a narcissist were the head of a nation?

First of all, the narcissist would have to surround himself with enablers.

All narcissists must have enablers.

Narcissists are bullies, and they bully those around them into serving them and only them.

If a narcissist were head of a nation, commonly accepted human values would be perverted.

Only people who can give power to the narcissist have any value.

The poor count for nothing. What do they have to give?

So, take from them their health insurance, their food assistance—anything that sustains them.

And the foreign poor are of even less value.

What can a starving child far away give the narcissist?

It is estimated that 14 million people will die in Africa in the next five years with the elimination of USAID assistance.

No, it’s not hypothetical, this narcissistic leader.

It’s America now.

And millions will die.

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Rev. Brennan:

Treating NDEs as important puts a lot of credence on the functioning of an oxygen-deprived brain. I don’t attach much importance to what our brains do when they are not working.

— G.

Two lines from a longer, thoughtful email from a reader who calls himself an atheist.

I repeat: Atheism is as fragile as Fundamentalism.
Both are ready to fall like a house of cards.
They cannot stand up to reason and information.

Brains actually do not do anything when they are not working.
People having an NDE are absent from the brain—
yet they can often describe in detail everything doctors and nurses are doing to revive them.
This can include what doctors and nurses say to one another—while there is no brain activity.
Yes, the information is conclusive.

So, what I call highly resistant non-believers must run from this and all such evidence—
just as fundamentalists must resist the clear truth that the Bible is not inerrant.

But I have absolutely no desire to fight reality.
I want the truth.

Dr. Raj Parti, a Hindu who met Jesus in an NDE, concludes this:
1 – Consciousness exists outside the body.
2 – There is life after death.
3 – We are all connected to each other.
4 – There is one all-prevailing supreme love and intelligence which is the source of all creation.

No use to fight it.
Everyone who has an NDE says the same thing.

And so does Jesus.

I return to the pulpit Sunday after my accident.
Worship at 11:00.

saintmatthewumc.com
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Atheists are under severe threat.
There is a minefield of evidence that God is real—and at any moment, the atheist may find his worldview blown to bits.

In my convalescence from my fall onto concrete (bruised but not broken), I’ve watched a lot of YouTube.
And I watched a couple of NDE accounts, which triggered the algorithm—bringing up hundreds.
My YouTube is wall-to-wall NDEs.

Many have titles like: Life-long Atheist Dies and Meets God.
And suddenly, those lifelong denials are shattered in seconds.

Their experience of God is undeniable.
The NDE is said to be more real than anything in this world.
And they don’t want to deny it.
Because the God they meet in their NDE is truly what they have looked for all their lives.

Yes, they have lived as atheists. They have not accepted Christ or held any religious beliefs.
That does not change God’s love for them.

The atheist encounters in heaven the unconditional love Jesus told us about.
It’s a love so powerful and so transforming, words cannot describe it.

Now—anyone, atheist or otherwise, who has lived an evil life may have a less pleasant experience.
But most people are not evil.
And most atheists just do not know enough to believe.
They are, simply, ignorant about reality.

Everyone will eventually believe in God.
We can resist God in this world.
But the instant we die—God is there.
Loving us.

So—
Why wait till we die to enjoy that love?

(I will return to the pulpit on July 6—in one week.)

saintmatthewumc.com
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I took a tumble onto concrete two weeks ago.

Nothing broken.

A lot that is bruised, swollen, and painful.

Nothing on my face, so my movie career is not over. But my days with the Dallas Cowboys are kaput.

I will return to the pulpit on July 6, the Sunday following the 4th of July.

We would usually have on that day some nod to the nation.

But not this year.

No Rah! Rah! Ray! until we are a democracy again.

This evil will pass. Some of the voters who brought it on us are tiring of it.

They are seeing that evil is not selective. It will roll over all in its path.

Evil is driven by fear and vengeance and lust for power. It cares for no one but self.

And this is showing.

It can’t be hidden.

And most people have that common decency.

The tide will turn.

So, we will again sing America the Beautiful and My Country ‘Tis of Thee—but we will wait until it is again.

This year, we will have a simple prayer for our nation and a time of thanksgiving for those who have served and bled and died to keep us free.

That dying will not be in vain.

America will be beautiful again.

And then we will sing.

Then we will shout.

Then we will give thanks to the Lord who has brought us safe thus far and will surely lead us home.

---

In my absence, Mary will preach each Sunday.

Mary Teague is our Associate Pastor.

Until full ordination, she is also a nurse with a heart for people and a loving presence.

Give her a listen.

And be blessed.

I’ve got the Second Coming doctrine on my mind, and I can’t shake it.

So—let’s talk.

Most Christians believe it. It is ensconced in Scripture, in the Apostle’s Creed, and in the rubric for Holy Communion.

Preachers in mainline churches seldom mention it. Some conservative preachers talk of little else. Turn on the TV preachers and count how often you are told we are in the “End Times.” (And be sure to use your money before Jesus comes.)

So, the doctrine gets at least lip service from preachers afraid to talk about it—and a lot of talk time from preachers who think every earthquake brings us closer to the end.

But the church in general seems unsure why Jesus is coming back.

Paul has a rather pleasant picture. He says the Lord will return to take us all home to heaven.

“We will not all die,” he says, “but we will all be changed… [and] the dead will be raised.”

Revelation has a grislier picture. Jesus rides in on a white horse and cuts off the heads of his enemies.

The Revelation author makes sure we get the Messiah people expected in the first place: a military leader who will cast out the ugly Romans and rule the world from Jerusalem.

This fairly well cancels the Jesus of the Gospels—the man of sacrificial grace who told us to love our enemies.

Even Paul was wrong. He said, “We will not all die.” He expected Jesus to return in his lifetime.

Help me here. Why do you think Jesus will return?

Or did he mean it when he said from the cross, “It is finished”?

Drop me an e-mail. I’ll share responses next week.