2-5-24<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was pulled over on the Interstate recently, according to the officer, for \u201cgoing 75 in a 55 zone.\u201d My defense was futile but worth a try: \u201cIsn\u2019t 75 the new 55?\u201d Actually this is a parable; it didn\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Technically, it is a fib, not a parable, but at my age that\u2019s the best I can do. Speaking of age, I have just passed that \u201cmilestone,\u201d the three-quarters of a century mark. For those of you not blessed enough to have gone down life\u2019s pathway that far, I can share that I almost had, not a Senior Moment, but a Typo Moment. That is, some milestones seem like millstones<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Actually, that is another fib. I move a little slower, and my joints, when they move or bend at all, sometimes creak and moan. Oh, I forget things occasionally, but I always have; don\u2019t we all? Maybe it\u2019s been more frequent lately. I asked my doctor if I should be concerned and I related three instances. \u201cHow long has this been going on?\u201d he asked. \u201cHow long has what<\/em> been going on?\u201d I responded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We all have moments in the supermarket when we forget why we drove there (Right? Don\u2019t we? Please say Yes!) but I have to admit it is worrying when I find myself in the bathroom and forget why I\u2019m there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But God has blessed me with reasonably good health. As for my \u201cmind,\u201d I might have just exploded, here, any claims to clarity and sanity. But I am as busy as I ever have been in the fields the Lord has assigned: writing, reading, drawing and painting, researching. The coincidence of having just published my 75th<\/sup> book in, now, my 75th<\/sup> year is a convenient coincidence: When I forget one number, I simply recall the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The apocryphal \u201cChinese Curse\u201d \u2013 \u201cMay you live in interesting times\u201d \u2013 has always seemed like a blessing to me. My curiosity and numerous interests have made me a polymath (as well as a pauper) but I continue to discover old things that are refreshingly new, and I turn new things into old friends, as a reader and collector. God has led me to accomplish a few things; I am proud of my children; I have met many of my heroes and even encountered colorful scoundrels along the way. Travel, jobs, hobbies \u2013 a rich mosaic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I have learned that repeated readings of God\u2019s Word, and ever more intimate praying, make my relationship with the Savior more alive, not old and tired. He created the universe, yet He cares for me, enough to sacrifice His life. I have grievously sinned in uncountable ways, yet I have repented and asked forgiveness, and He has forgiven me. In the words of the Gospel song \u2013 it is all richer, deeper, fuller, sweeter as the days go by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And the days do go by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My old friend, the late cartoonist Dik Browne (Hagar the Horrible<\/em>) and I had a mutual friend about whom Dik would quietly say, \u201cThat boy hears voices.\u201d It was an old-fashioned and polite way to say that the fellow was a little odd at times. Delusional folks can claim inspiration from phantoms, but it can be otherwise. Joan of Arc heard voices, or claimed to; and people held her in reverence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My late wife Nancy, in our moments of grief when we lost our first child, heard God\u2019s voice, seemingly audible: \u201cYou will have multiple healthy children.\u201d A peace came over her and, despite her fragile health, we subsequently had three healthy children. The voice, and that peace, were as much miracles as the healthy births.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One last story (I can hear \u201choorays,\u201d almost audible) \u2013 a parable, finally, along these lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A guy heard a voice he believed to be from the Lord: \u201cYou are going to live a long, long life!\u201d The fellow was so convinced it was from Heaven that he went into overdrive, preparing to live it up. Or long-live it up. He got a new wardrobe of slick duds to impress the chicks; he got a tummy tuck; a dentist gave him capped teeth; a doctor gave him a facelift; he colored the hair that was his own, and some miracle-worker gave him hair plugs. Then when he was slick enough to hit the town, he got behind the wheel of his expensive new sports car, and\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2026 he was killed when a big dump truck ran into him. Up in Heaven, he looked for God and asked, \u201cLord, you said I would live a long life\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He received this answer: \u201cFrankly, I didn\u2019t recognize you anymore!<\/em>\u201d The guy had remembered the promise, but forgotten the Promise-Maker. God forbid that any of us let that happen in our lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Life must be about quality, not quantity… or length. All the learning I have accumulated in my 75 years, and all the exciting things I still yearn to discover have, in the end, not fogged my vision. I have learned a lot \u2013 book-lessons and life-lessons \u2013 but when it comes to God Almighty, who created me and even knows the number of hairs on my head, He knows \u201cwhat is needful and best\u201d for me, and that is fine. It is good to know God\u2019s Ways; I don\u2019t need to know His Whys.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n What fills in the (many) gaps when our understanding is faulty? God provides… Jesus teaches… and the Holy Spirit gifts us… with Faith. Walking with my Savior is like a 24\/7 birthday party. Only better. In fact richer, deeper, fuller, sweeter. Life with Jesus is like a long, long party. How\u2019s that<\/em> for a parable?
+ + +<\/p>\n\n\n\n