Foreword
One of my great passions in life is people. Although relationships can be trying and difficult at times, the rewards and benefits far outweigh any short term tribulations. As to the value of friendship and time spent with each other, consider these words from one of modern society's greatest thinkers;
"It is a serious
thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the
dullest
and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which,
if you saw it now,
you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such
as you now meet,
if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping
each other to one or
other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming
possibilities...that we should
conduct all our dealings with one another...There are no ordinary people.
You have never met a mere mortal."
By C. S. Lewis from; The Weight of Glory
I think he's right. We are here to encourage each other. We choose, moment by moment, whether that encouragement is towards heaven or hell. This can be applied to both the here and now on earth and the destiny of our eternal soul. I know I cannot save the world, we are told that has already been done, my job is to share what has been done as best I know how.
After spending a day in a John Eldredge seminar, I chose to also use a play-like setting for the re-telling of the Biblical story. In a shortened version of his Sacred Romance seminar, John emphasized how we spend a lot of time and money on all kinds of entertainment; movies, plays, sitcoms, soaps, theater and books. All billion dollar industries. Why? Because they tell us stories and stories touch the heart like nothing else. There's magic, excitement and adventure in story. There's life in story.
The following is a short story but it's the story from which all stories are taken. There's good & evil, heroes & bad guys but more importantly God allows you to write yourself into the story. You see, God is so great, and has so much to give He created countless other beings just in order to share all that He has and all that He is! We can't begin to comprehend all He has in store for us in this story! He says;
"Eye hath not seen,
nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man,
the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him."
1 Corinthians 2:9 (KJV)
What an awesome thought,
sort of makes me feel like a kid at Christmas again!
But it doesn't stop there
for it continues with;
"But God has revealed
them unto us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things,
yea, the deep things of God."
1 Corinthians 2:10 (KJV)
So in a sense, by getting
to know and trust God here and now,
I've gotten to peak under the tree, (see the
Bob, Huey & Me story)
and
believe me I like what I see!
Ricky