Why do we undergo surgery? Two reasons: to repair damage and to have something removed, like a tumor. It's always dangerous, to some degree, because it's invasive and opens up the body to infection from outside. But we usually agree to it because our lives and fortunes are at stake.
So too do our souls require repair and removal of malignancies. Jesus said, "...And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell." Matthew 5:30.
Jesus was speaking metaphorically, of course, but his point is clear. If we harbor hatred and madness in our hearts or minds, it's an impediment to all our relationships. It can kill our souls and wall us off from God's love, which often expresses itself through the kindnesses of others. Like Scrooge, the bitter and greedy man in A Christmas Carol, by Dickens, we can become entirely joyless and isolated. Scrooge found healing when three different angels showed him a retrospective of his life; the hard lives of others; and the future he was forging for himself.
At this very moment, we are all being given a second - and even third - chance at life; an opportunity to make amends and take a new path. We're in precisely the same situation as a patient undergoing brain surgery. The decisions we make today are critically important to our future.
Without regard for our religion, the Almighty and His holy angels are working furiously to unravel the Gordion Knot of fear, confusion, and chaos; the cancerous hubris that has afflicted humankind from the beginning. It will be extracted and thrown into the fire. No wonder the enemies of God are screaming in terror and the weaker of our fellows are fainting from fear.
Miracles are happening, and wonderfully good things are coming. Merry Christmas to All!
This is the Second Temple of Solomon as it appeared in the first century A.D. It was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. as Jesus foretold. Since then the real Temple is Christendom; all who believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He fulfilled all the prophesies made about the Messiah, including his crucifixion. All true Christians today are their own Temple, and they need no other. Christ is coming again, soon.
