I'm trying: a stairway to heaven?

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PY writes:

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I always took it to mean that it was difficult but not impossible.

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Hi iano.I had the same understanding as PurpleYouko, that the needles eye was a geographic reference. I'm not sure where I picked that up, but I do know that it was not from a Roman Catholic source.

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If it is necessary to go googling and understanding the original greek and having a theology degree then patently only the smart will get to heaven...

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Jesus was not talking to you and me. He was talking to the people of his time. He often spoke in metaphors which were well understood by the people of his time. I expect that they understood what he meant without needing to use Google nor to have a theology degree.If you were to listen to a sermon being preached today, you would likely find that sermon filled with metaphors which are relevant to people of our time, but might have little relevance to people of other times or from other places. Why would you expect that it was different in the time of Jesus?We can learn from what Jesus said. But in order to learn, we need to understand that he was talking to the people of his time and his country.

I'll 'fess up. I have never even met my neighbor to the north, nor the one across the street. I do get along very well with the neighbor to the south. I'm not trembling. I haven't had any disagreements with the neighbors I haven't met. I simply chose not to intrude on their privacy.

I'm wondering why you asked that. Was it some sort of trick question?It seems obvious that people residing at a residence are, by definition, not homeless. Therefore the answer is zero. And I need not know anything about who resides there to conclude that the answer is zero.

If I do something bad to my neighbor, then surely I should repent to that neighbor.If I repent to God, but not to the neigbor, then my "repentance" is not real. If I repent to my neighbor, then surely God will recognize that.

I think you've got it, robin. Trying, as jar means it, is really hard to do. But iano thinks of trying as something superficial and easy.

I'm aware of that. I sometimes go off-topic too. It is easy to slip.As I recall, last time I only gave you a gentle nudge, and that was enough to get you back on track. So yes, you really were trying (and I thank you for that).Let's not pursue this any further, lest we drift off-topic here.