The Policy

This is an article I wrote that was published in 2001. I've revisited it and think I would like to share it anew.

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"Help me! I’ve been robbed! It’s gone, all of it. What happened? Why did this happen to me?" I screamed at my Insurer. Continuing I bellowed, "You promised that if I leave my treasures in your hands that it would be safe! But just look around me now! It’s all gone! Every bit of it. Why!?! Why didn't you keep your word? I depended on you!"

With a look nearing contempt, I glared at the Man across from me. "Well? What do you have to say for yourself?" I demanded.

Not a word did He speak. He just sat there! Who does this guy think He is? Sure I read the contract, I understood the claims that He made when I ‘bought’ into the policy. ‘Leave it to Him and He will take care of it. Nothing will be forsaken.’ What a disappointment, what a mistake!

At the edge of despair I broke down and began to cry. All the things I held dear, my hopes, my dreams, the plans I made for life...all gone in an instant. Why did it happen?

As I cried, the Man sat.

After my sobs began to subside, He spoke, "Friend, I did not forsake you. Yes, you have been robbed. I am indeed sorry that it has happened, but happen it did. But you misunderstand me. I never promised that you would not be robbed, but I did promise that you would be taken care of. These hopes and dreams of yours that were so coarsely snatched from your grip I can restore. I know you feel betrayed but I ask that you have faith in Me. I will restore that which was stolen. It may not seem as if I can right now, but have patience. You will see."

Unbelieving I agreed knowing that He would fail. But you see I didn't have any other choice but to depend upon Him. Of all the other insurers He alone was the One I felt could actually make good on His word.

I waited. Days turned into weeks and finally into months. I don’t quite know when it happened, but as I waited I began to dream again. My hopes once more began to burn brightly. The joy that was so callously taken from me, returned in abundance. As I said, I cannot recall exactly when it happened, but I am sure it had to do with putting my faith in this Insurer, the Man who called Himself Jesus, the Christ.

Now as I look back on that time in which I felt I lost it all, I understand the sufficiency of this ‘life policy’ I have taken out in His Name. I am confident that even though I may again experience the same feelings of despair and hopelessness, He will restore to me that which is stolen. It is difficult, yes. However, He has not failed yet. When I look back between that time and now, I can see much more clearly that He has kept His word. My friend, if you do not know this Man, let me introduce you to Him. His name is Jesus and of all the guarantees of this world, His alone is worth accepting. You see, it is already paid for. All you need to do is accept it. It covers everything and there are no surprise clauses that will release Him from His obligations. It is yours for the asking. Ask in faith and confidence and be rewarded. He is waiting and you can’t afford to miss the opportunity. Call on Him today! If you need help getting to Him, call me. I’d be glad to introduce you.

* Originally published by Good Tidings Press, St. John's, NL, January 2001

Wasps in Coffee Houses

Sitting and thinking on the side of the Red River. Or I was. Now, I'm enjoying a coffee press at my favorite Starbucks watching a wasp trying to escape my place of escape.

It seems at times that everyone, and everything, is trying to escape something. It seems discontentment and dissatisfaction is the cry of every living thing. Or does it seem this way because I struggle with my own unhappiness and discontentment?

Paul, writer to the Gentiles (that is everyone who isn't a Jew) implores us to learn the art of being content. He states in his writing to the Christians at Philippi that he has "...learned how to be content with whatever I have." To his protege Timothy, he writes: "after all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content."

But is that an impossible view for today? Is contentment possible?

The wasp here in the shop wants out. Why? Sure it isn't in it's natural environment, but there is safety here (relative to the amount of attention it attracts, I concede), there is sustenance here and there is a tremendous amount of space in which to dwell. Speaking in elementary terms, all of its needs are potentially met...but yet it struggles to fly through the window to the outside.

Why?

In watching my fellow sojourner, the wasp, I can draw some parallels to my own struggles with contentment and situation. My own discontentment is based in part, I believe, in the fact that I am made for something more, just as the wasp is made for something more than a coffee house existence. It is made to live outside, to struggle against nature and predator, to eke out a living in the wild and untamed unknown. In a similar way, I am also made for more than this 'coffee house existence'. I am made for eternity, therefore I am discontent in this temporal world.

No, this is not some delusion of grandeur I possess. It is based firmly in my belief, and my blessed hope, that I have been wonderfully created by a loving, paternal Heavenly Father who has gifted me with eternal life through the atoning sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ.

I am discontent with anything less than that gift promised me.

So what of it? I am in the here and now. This is my current reality. Am I to be content here? Is temporal contentment a virtue worth cultivating?

I've heard it said of Christians that we are 'too Heavenly minded to be any earthly good'.

So, where is the balance? Is there a realistic balance that can be struck between learning temporal contentment while maintaining a measure of temporal discontentment due to not being where I have been created to exist? Does it even matter?

The dilemma, I perceive, is that I belong to two very different, but equally genuine, realities. Eternity is not my present reality. The temporal is.

I believe that the here and now, with it's shortcomings, challenges and hurt, is still beneficial and worth being content in. The first step, I believe, is a careful evaluation of what this present reality actually is. This is where I need to begin. Stay tuned...for this is all a work in progress.