I miss the three of them greatly and I pray that they are growing in maturity and in the grace of the Lord. Nicholas and I text each day and probably talk every three days or so.------------
The poison ivy hit me pretty hard but I am coming out of it all right. It's rocketed all around my wrists and arms and I have plenty of scars to deal with. In high school this stuff never bothered me. Now, it gets so bad that often I have to head to the doctor for a radical cure.
-------------------
How real is your faith? Here's an excerpt from one of my novels, Guffman's Universe, and in it the lead character, an Einstein-caliber atheist named Guffman confronts Aaron, the Christian. In this scene, there is a siege at the radio station and the staff could be attacked at any moment. The question of the reality of Christianity comes up:
I hid some shivers and tried to sound casual. "Come on, Guff, we’ll be okay. Someone gets carried away with some pranks and, yeah, they shot too close to you, but nothing’s happened since. We’ll be all right."
His back shook. He was laughing at my comment. "‘We’ll be okay,’ you say. Boy, that’s a rational thought. Who’ll take care of us...your God?"
I could feel my blood rising. "Y-yeah, for that matter. He will."
"How could you know? What would he care about you, let alone us?"
"Because... I’m His child," I began. "I’m part of His family."
He sipped again. "Very noble words, sir. I just don’t believe them."
I coughed lightly and tried to remain calm. "Then, please tell me, if you don’t believe them, then who am I?"
He turned and I could see him staring at me, even in the dim light. "You, sir, are a practical atheist."
"A what?" I started to get up. "You know full well I told you I’m a Christia-"
He held up his hand. "You know the definition of an atheist? Someone who says there is no God, right? However, a practical atheist claims there IS a God, but just acts as if there were no God. That’s you." I started to open my mouth but he held up his hand.
"Let me finish, then you can speak. A practical atheist professes to be a Believer, but isn’t into the Bible like a regular Christian." He tilted his head to one side, thinking. "A practical atheist just doesn’t act like God directs him all the time. He seems to be more devoted to contemporary culture, and wants to move with the times. That’s the way I see you, sir. Now, look at me. I’m an atheist, and my worldview shows it. I live for the here and now, and at least I’m consistent with my beliefs. You, my man, profess to believe in God, but your philosophy of life and values seem to be in touch more with American culture than the Bible."
"I’m committed to Christ," I answered, though rather weakly.
Guffman shook his head. "Look, at least I know where I stand. You don’t even realize you’re thoroughly secularized. Remember a few weeks ago? Ken asked you a question about the Bible’s view on sin and trouble, and to this moment, you’ve not given him an answer. Sid asked you about God’s protection, asking where the Bible tells about God watching over us, and, my man, that was over two weeks ago. You have never even tried to show him any answer. I’ve never seen you pray, never seen you read your precious Holy Bible." He pointed out the window. "You’re like that deer that Tinny saw. It looked like a deer, stood like a deer, and felt like a deer, but guess what? It was a shell of a deer, just a statue. Look at you. You look like a Christian, walk like a Christian..."
"Stop it," I hissed. "Just stop it. I don’t need some self-righteous humanist to tell me where I stand."
Guffman leaned back and laughed. He got me, both he and I knew he did. I could see his eyes gleam, even in the dark of the room.
-----
Fellow, Christian, check your walk with God. Are you a practical atheist? What proofs do you show that you aren't?
