First of all today, I want to thank those of you who have left comments and encouraged me greatly by them. I wish I could figure out how to put those comments on my blog page. One of these days, maybe I'll find the proper technique! I am still fairly computer-illiterate, only figuring out slow step by slower step how to do the things I need to do! :o)
Today's Key follows quite naturally from the topic of last week, "Key to Intellectual Integrity." As you may recall, I discussed how the Bible is our only true source of the truth. Today, I will move on into a room I discovered just beyond the Intellectual Integrity Room. This one has a smaller door, almost hidden between two large bookcases. It took me a while to find it. I hope that others coming behind me will continue to seek earnestly for it, because it must not only be important to know that the Bible is the only source of whole truth, but to actually sit down and read it.
I turned the Key of Verbalization and entered a pleasant room, one that is beautiful, cozy and, to my amazement, with a decor personalized for me with my unique tastes in mind. Is is possible that there are specific rooms for other people too, that God has designed for each person? Maybe hidden behind other shelves you will find a room just made for you! If so, I'd love to hear what your room looks like. In my room, a cozy arm chair in shades of blues, lavenders and rose is provided for me. Overhanging is a shining Tiffany-styled lamp composed of a clear, translucent, glowing material, and a large Queen-Anne end table on which to rest my precious Bible from time to time while I meditate on its truth statements and converse with its author. Before me is an assortment of flowers of all varieties and colors, making me think of an English garden.
Enough of that; I will bore any male readers if I continue on in this line.
A thought subtly protrudes into my mind: Maybe all I need to do is sit here quietly for a time, basking in the beauty of my surroundings and resting in the peace. It's probably not that important to actually read the book I hold in my hands. Or I could just wait a while. . . I set my Bible gently on the end table. After all, reading the Bible can't be a matter of life or death! I'm comfortable here and at peace. Maybe I'll just lay my head back and doze a bit. I didn't get much sleep last night.
I find myself floating contentedly off to dream land. In my dream . . . I find myself sitting in on a hard, cold chair in a doctor's office. I have just been told that I only have two months to live. The reality of it shocks me to the core of my being.
As the truth sinks in, my first thought is for my husband and children who will be left behind. An urgency seizes me. Very soon, I won't be here to encourage my children, to share bits and pieces of wisdom God has showed me, to answer questions they have, to support them through the hard times that will surely come. But what can I do?
I will compose letters to each and all of them, as many letters as I can find time to write. I must record everything I can think of that they will need to know about life, so they can read my words when I am not present with them anymore.
Another thought strikes my mind like a discordant gong and my heart trembles with anxiety. Will my children read my letters? All of them?
Suppose someone were to ask them five years after my death what they thought of my letters. Immediately, answers flash into my mind . . . answers that I would NOT want to hear!
1. "I treasure Mom's letters. They are on a special shelf in my living room. One of these days I'll probably getting around to reading them."
2. "Oh, I haven't read them yet, but I will. When I have some extra time. Life is crazy-busy these days, you know!"
3. "My sister read them and told me basically what they said. I don't think I really need to read them for myself."
4. "Bor-ing."
5. "Yeah, I read a few paragraphs once in a while. There's some good stuff in there. I don't think I need to read all of it though.
6. Yes, I sat down and read it all the way through as soon as I got them. It brought tears to my eyes. What did they say, you ask? Well, um, let's see . . . there was something about . . . oh, it was really good . . . let me think . . . "
7. "Oh, I don't think my mother really wrote those letters. They're probably just a bunch of stories somebody found in her dresser drawer."
8. "I don't want to read them. They're most likely just full of stuff she wants me to do, or quit doing."
9. "They are too confusing. A phrase on the first page didn't make sense to me. I don't think I'll bother with the rest of them."
10. "She wrote them so long ago They're not relevant to the way I live today."
11. "If I knew she really cared about me, maybe I'd read them."
12. "What letters?"
I woke up with a start, shook the groggyness from my mind, quickly reached for my Bible and began to read.
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