Brainwaves

When you get old, the danger is not so much a matter of merely repeating yourself as it is forgetting when you last told this story and to whom it was you told it. With apologies, then, I once more go back to a day long ago when I was but seventeen and even then pursuing answers to many things that troubled my mind. My father was passing through our living room and, seizing the opportunity for a one-on-one confrontation, I asked him if he believed in God. Never one to frequent a church, he just stood there, dead in his tracks for a few moments, before finally saying no more than “yes” and turning to leave. I wasn’t about to let it end with that, however. “Why?” I insisted and had him again searching for how to respond. Silence. “Because”, he at last ventured, “if there is none, then dying is no more than turning off the light.” End of conversation. He was gone and his explanation only left me wondering. After all, why not just put your trust in frogs or peanut butter? Indeed, why not just construct your own source of hope if there is no reality, no proof, no evidence to use for a foundation? Within six months, Dad was dead. An accident on the job………….

People think me odd for a lot of reasons. My theology is but one item on the list. To begin with, while the Bible remains a gauge by which to check my conclusions, it also, at least in my opinion, has the potential to serve as fodder for a man’s ego. Let’s face it: if it wasn’t possible to simply do no more than carve our own totem from its pages, we wouldn’t have umpteen different denominations disagreeing over its content. Tout your faith all you want, but it all really comes down to whether it’s established in some manifesto that you and your bunch have created or in He Who has proven Himself unto you again and again. Even so grace. If it is no more than a state you have defined for yourself, then you had better hope He agrees with you when you meet Him on the other side. If, though, the term is validated by the knowledge of His presence in your life, then assurance is yours already. Can people kid themselves even about that? I’m sure they can; but we each stand responsible for ourselves. Personally, I prefer taking it day by day, the dumb sheep ever in need of the Shepherd’s voice and I’d counsel anybody along those lines. Counsel; not argue…………..