Recently I was with my father-in-law celebrating his 95th birthday. I was reminded of my journal ponderings when his beloved wife was lingering just this side of eternity.

THE FIERY MORNING SUN hangs in the open sky. Agnes, my mother-by-law-and-in-love, is hanging on to life by a frayed thread. And I am pondering the essence of her life.

Agnes is a magnificent reflection of the character of God. She is authenticity personified. She is simple, unadorned and unpretentious goodness. She is human – flawed and imperfect in personality but unblemished in character. She waits for death with the quiet and lovely serenity of a trusting child. All is well with her soul.

Her life is a contrast to the current, popularized religious and political interpretation of "morality" and "values." There is a harshness to this new definition of "family values" that cloaks a disdain for persons that do not fit their norm of morality. There is a sharp edge to these self-righteous, judgmental, twentieth-century Pharisees. So-called family values have become a crusade rather than a conviction, a campaign rather than a witness, a code of conduct rather than a state of being, behavior rather than essence.

Jesus grieved over and confronted people who had appearance right but were nasty, petty and unloving on the inside. We hear a lot today about recovering the Ten Commandments. We are told what's wrong with people on welfare and how to treat (or mistreat) people we disagree with and who differ from us. There is a mood in our country that honors a self-proclaimed piety and an attitude of moral superiority that is exclusive, hate-filled and downright ugly. It is nothing less than a blasphemy of what Jesus Christ proclaimed. It's all legalism and no grace.

Jesus always dealt gently and lovingly with persons who knew they were lost and undone. He could help them. Save them. Heal them. But he could not seem to help most of the religious people. They were too insulated, arrogant and absorbed with outward morality, codes of conduct and appearance.

This morning I am reminded of the true spirit of Christ. Agnes is a woman of transparency. There is no pretense and no moral superiority. At the core of her being is love and respect for others. She is a woman of ultimates: Love, goodness, patience, gentleness, fidelity and understanding.

She is not a woman of intimidation, judgment, condemnation, rejection, suspicion and cynicism. She trusts God with her whole heart. She does not need to draw a circle that excludes any of God's children. Her final appeal is not to a political or religious agenda but to God.

What more would someone want to know about Agnes? That she is an educator? A physician? Lawyer? Rich? Powerful? Successful? Sexy? White? Black? Yellow? Red? A Methodist? Baptist? An introvert? Extrovert? This morning her life is hanging by a thread. I need to know: What really matters about her? The answer is crystal clear to me. She's got the main thing right and straight in her life: her character. It's unblemished.

Agnes of God.

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