Art Replies!

Dear PapaPops,

It was good to hear from you, to receive your recent letter. It surely has been a long time, hasn’t it? Yes, I agree that those “old times” to which you refer are good to remember. I’m glad for your encouragement in this way, and I surely want to be an encouragement to you, too.

It is true that I have been successful in my chosen field of business, and have therefore been able to accomplish a lot of the things you have spelled out. It has been gratifying to help my children get a good start on their own careers in life. And the traveling that my wife and I have done has taken us to some very beautiful spots here on Planet Earth. Isn’t this an amazing place? It’s inhabitable, complex, and has tremendous variety which is available to us every day.

I can’t help but congratulate you on the work you have done in the Gospel ministry. It must be a very good feeling to help bring about positive changes at the “deep places” of people’s lives. Your work, compared to mine through the years, seems to have had the greater impact in the things that matter most. Do you think so?

Now I’ll admit that I feel a little uneasy, PapaPops, when I consider the question of “What next?” after I’ve done all that I can do. Certainly, as with everybody else, I’m on the road to that place in life where my health and natural abilities will have greatly diminished. I really don’t like to contemplate that. Do you? I wish for the best, both here and hereafter, but I’m concerned that I don’t have much solid hope, as you seem to have. Is hope of that nature and magnitude really possible for people like you and me?

How can you say that you know, yes, actually know, that you will be “at home with our Lord and Savior,” to use your words, when your earthly journey is done? It seems too good to be true, doesn’t it? How can anyone know what is ahead for us beyond the grave? Shouldn’t we be responsible for ourselves, rather than rely on a payment from somebody else, on our behalf, as your “Gospel” maintains?

PapaPops, I’m a little mystified in your writing about “our Savior” as someone who is alive today, and personal. And who can know that he or she will be somehow “saved” forever?!? How can the death of any person that occurred some two thousand years ago make a real difference in your life or mine today? Isn’t this wishful thinking, -- perhaps an expression of a religious sentiment long-ago described as the “opiate of the people?”

As for reading the Gospel of John, in pursuing your suggestion, is it really worth the time that would take, do you think? After all, the Bible is an old book (very old), and how can it anticipate today’s problems? How can it suggest workable, high-value answers to those problems? Can it really put forward a satisfying solution for people like you and me? I don’t mean to suggest that what you say is superfluous, but tell me -- what is an “honest doubter” to think?

With great appreciation for your willingness to help me find true meaning and a lasting purpose, I am –

Sincerely yours, -- Art

A personal question, if you please....

Friend, Do you pray?

If so, when and under what circumstances?...

In wartime, many have been known to pray -- remember the old saying, “there are no atheists in foxholes?”

In the Bible, many prayed, including these --
David (II Sam. 7:27; I Chr. 29:19); Abraham (Gen.18:23-32); Daniel (Dan. 6;10); Paul (Acts 9:11); Jesus (John 17)....

Circumstances vary, but many people pray, -- at least, “Help, Lord!”.

The One Who made us all, desires communication with us.

Today I met with others in another city to pray for our State.
And here are some of my thoughts in poetic form.


PRAY

Now pray for our towns, our cities, our State,
Let not our desire for God long abate;
God cares for us all with love true and strong,
He’s patient and caring, to Him we belong!

Let’s pray to our Father in Heaven above,
Pray in the Name of the Son of His love;
It’s Jesus our Savior Who for us gave all,
That God might forgive every sin, large or small!

God’s mercy and grace, amazing and true,
His power and His splendor no one can outdo;
His plan for His children is holy and pure,
And following our Savior, the outcome is sure!

He made us for this, -- to Him to bring pleasure,
His design was with purpose, for we are His treasure;
But when we fall back or from Him we stray,
We then must repent, -- there’s no other way!

Now pray for revival of God’s work today,
From His work in us, oh let us not stray;
But when we’re revived by His Spirit and Word,
God’s work will be blessed, -- all praise to the Lord!

-- Poet Les

Why am I here, and Where am I going? When I set up my blog, "In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree," I was asked to include a random question. So I included this two-part question.

I think it is indicative of how you and I must feel, if or when we come to the place of grappling with the deep meaning and purpose of human life in this world, -- your life/my life/our lives.

It is clear that you and I had nothing to do with being here in the first place -- here in this world. But is there a purpose for your life and mine? Will it matter in 100 years that you and I have walked this way? Many years ago I sang a beautiful song, "I Shall Not Pass Again This Way!"

But there is another question tugging at the corners of our hearts. It is this -- Where am I going? Do you and I have a destination, -- a destination that is far higher and more significant than retirement, than travel, than golfing, or fishing, or hiking, or mountain climbing, or....? When this life is done, where will you and I be?

There is One Who said long ago, "I go to prepare a place for you; and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there you may be also!" What a marvelous thought! What a wonderful Person Who made this statement, as He expressed tremendous worth in you and me!