A time for God? Always.

Moments before I fell asleep last night, I checked Twitter one last time to find a breaking news report of a major earthquake in Japan. There were no details yet, but it was still a frightening report.

And moments after I woke up this morning, I checked Twitter to see what the world had to say last night. The majority of the messages were kind words and prayers for the people of Japan and all those affected by the earthquake and subsequent tsunamis. But there were a few messages that provided a different response to this great natural disaster.

Several people were saying that now is the time to find God because with all of the death and destruction in recent years, the end times are surely near.

As I read these messages, I couldn't help but wonder the same thing myself, but I was also filled with sadness. Does Christianity teach us to find God in the possible waning minutes of our lives? Shouldn't we strive for a Christian life because we are alive and not because we might die soon?

We are all going to die at some point; that is a fact. To place an emphasis on finding Jesus after an earthquake or a flood is a viewpoint that has strayed from the path that I think we are supposed to follow.

Yes, I would love for everyone to believe in the God that I believe in. I would love for the entire world to believe that Jesus loves everyone. I would love for the world to believe...

But we live in a world that believes many different things.

If you aren't drawn to Christianity, be Jewish or Muslim or Buddhist. If organized religion isn't your cup of tea, believe in something, something good hopefully; believe in the possibility of a peaceful world with opportunities for all.

Life is a journey up an enormous mountain. Amongst the countless paths up the mountain, we might stumble, but there is always an outstretched arm waiting to pick us back up so that we may keep climbing.

We're in this together. I'll see you at the top, if not somewhere along the way...