Opinions

A national headline this week struck me as almost funny; “Dem strategy session to stop hemorrhaging of male voters ridiculed.” The Democratic Party’s tarnished image is well-earned. Their always-angry trend is leaving behind the older members of the party like stale chips. How often have you seen so many people make poor decision after poor decision? But then, when bitterness turns into malice, the corresponding actions appear justified by antipathy for their opponent. Rather than looking at their own actions and their position, they focus on retribution.

It was a beautiful, sunshiny day, but only now can I write about it. The euphoria I was enjoying began to deflate like a balloon as I slowly stopped the car on the side of a Georgia highway and turned off the radio. For my own comfort, I increased the air conditioning and then lowered my car window. “Good afternoon, officer,” I said. “I’ve just had the most lovely weekend with my college friends. We’ve been friends for more than 50 years and try to gather once a year to catch up—we’re scattered across the Southeast. One flew in from Austin, Texas.

When discussing eternal life, it brings up one of two emotions and attitudes. Those who believe in the Bible and have Christ as their Lord become excited and grateful that God has saved them and promised to be with them forever in a glorious paradise. On the other side, we find the ones who criticize and declare that God is only a dream and the Bible is a fairy tale. These are the rebellious individuals who deny His existence and mock those who stand for Him. I’m often asked to speak and pray at secular gatherings where many are not Christians, and I love these opportunities to acknowledge Jesus as the Lord and King of heaven and earth. Afterwards, the atmosphere becomes quiet and awkward, like I said something wrong. Actually, it’s the Holy Spirit causing this dividing line between the light and the darkness. The righteous rejoice while the lost try to hide in shame.

Dear Editor:

With the end of World War II in Europe, letters from American families seeking information about their loved ones began arriving at town halls across the southern Netherlands. Postmarked from big cities and small towns, from those of privilege and those barely scraping by, each one contained a heartbreaking request similar to that of a young widow from Demopolis, Alabama: My husband…was killed in Germany on his birthday, April 18, 1945, and is buried in the U.S. Military Cemetery at Margraten, Holland, near your town of Maastricht…He was my whole life to me…Since you live so near…I will be grateful all of the days of my life if you can get me a snapshot of his grave.

“There’s one thing good about getting fired,” said the late comedian Rodney Dangerfield, “It helps you make up your mind.” Over the years, the average person gets relieved of their duties about two times, and I have taken pride in being an above average person. As a teenager working at a 24-hour diner in Florida, I was dismissed for cutting my finger, though they hired me back as a dishwasher. Meeting my career quota at the same place a few months later, they gave me a chance to be a short-order cook to help during rush-hour surges. In the task of cracking two eggs, one in each hand, over a dozen were unsuccessful – meaning they went into a container for use in scrambling eggs.

In our kitchen, one of my two simple bar stools lost one of its dowels. I should not be surprised because the stools are probably 30 years old and, as I well know, things happen.

It is in December when we read that Mary, the mother of Jesus, “treasured all these things in her heart.” It is in May that I think of that statement the most. For Sunday is Mother’s Day. I, like every other devoted mother on earth, realize the treasure I’ve been privileged to hold, if but a short while. To be sure, my gratitude does not always spill forward when the milk does. My happiness is not always evident when the lawn is littered with shoes and fishing rods. My awareness of the treasure I hold is not always apparent when I’m ranting about attitudes, academics or economics.

Dear Editor:

I hope you have enjoyed the recent messages about heaven lately, and I appreciate the emails expressing your speculations. My statements are my own opinions and calculations and originate from my fascination about what our future home will be like. There are so many more questions like will we eat, what will we do, will we live in mansions, will babies be born, can our loved ones communicate with us, will our pets be there, will all of nature including our bodies remain the same throughout eternity, will there be technology, will we sleep, and so on. We realize that no one really knows the specifics of all these things we are curious about, but there are hints here and there if we take the time to study and research the scriptures. There is no need to argue about heaven, but rather let us be filled with excitement and joy to know that being with God forever (wherever we are) is the greatest miracle blessing we could ever experience.