Katherine's Library

This newsflash is for all the folks who look to the future and think they better have fun while they are still able. By all means, have fun, but don't think the fun has to stop at fifty, or any other age. I myself hope to be a grumpy old woman, preferably a grumpy old centenarian.

I was recently invited to participate in a book which I think will be a guide for all those who wonder when the fun has to stop. The name of the book is There IS Life After Fifty. The proceeds from sale of this book will benefit the Autism Society. I was very excited to be invited to be part of this venture. To think that my adventures after living only half a century would help children and families who suffer from autism is a great blessing.

There IS Life After Fifty will be released in November 2008. You can order your copy at www.thereislifeafterfifty.com. If you pre-order now, you will receive a free bonus e-book, A Long Journey Home. Go to www.alongjourneyhome.com to learn more about this e-book.

I thank God for my life after fifty. Life at any age includes both challenges and rewards, but in Christ, our life is always a blessing. There IS Life After Fifty is a statement that God's gift of life is good. If it were not good, why would we even want to live eternally? Jesus said that he came to give us life, and his resurrection assures us that his gift is eternal. Why not start living now?

Instrument Rules

Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. [I John 4:11]

If we read the daily headlines, we know that churches and individual Christians are struggling with an assortment of issues in contemporary society. From the Ten Commandments to misconduct among the clergy, religious issues stirred up with a generous helping of political bias force us as Christians to ask ourselves if our faith is really relevant to the world we live in. We see churches grappling with issues of gender equality and mission in the community who seem not to be able to find any firm ground for a solution. The outcome is often at best fractured fellowship among the faithful, at worst name-calling and outright schism. The issues facing Christians today envelope us whether we like it or not. Some whose minds are made up fold their arms and wait for the light to dawn on everyone else. Some who wonder why God didn’t give us clearer rules attempt to write rules on his behalf. Others talk and talk and talk and make no decisions. What are we to do when we don’t know what to do?

I thought about this situation recently as my husband and I were cruising on our sailboat off the coast of Maine. Both of us were standing on the aft deck peering in every direction trying to see if we were in danger of colliding with any other boats. We were seriously challenged by the fact that we were in thick fog with visibility less than 200 feet.

Being in the midst of the fog was like being under an overturned bowl. Our horizon was very near. We felt that we could almost touch the wall of fog that surrounded us. We had to check the chart and compass frequently for reassurance. Experienced sailors remind the neophytes that in the fog, no matter what your intuition tells you, you must rely on your instruments. In our tiny world, our perceptions told us that we were going in circles. We had to look at the chart frequently to see that according to the GPS we were actually traveling in a straight line on our desired course. We had to believe that the same instruments that had worked so well in bright sunlight, were still working in the fog.

As Christians, when we feel surrounded and confused by a fog of issues that test our faith, we would do well to remember this advice. What was the foundation of our faith when things looked simple? What are the fundamental truths that guided our attitudes and actions in the midst of the fellowship of the faithful? What principles did we believe when we were caught up by the singing of the “Hallelujah” chorus at Easter?

When we catch our children arguing over a toy truck, we don’t have to search for a rule to live by. We tell them, “Play nice. Share the truck. Take turns.” When we hear one child make fun of another child’s clothes, we tell her, “It isn’t important what brand of clothes she wears. Invite her to play with you anyway.” When there has been a fight, and one child shouts, “It’s not my fault. He hit me first,” we don’t hesitate to respond, “Well, two wrongs don’t make a right.” These timeless principles are easy to remember when we are applying them to others: Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. [Ephesians 4:32]

Of course, someone will say that AIDS and Mideast terrorism are different from childish squabbles. Someone will say that it isn’t that easy to know God’s will for such situations. Someone will remind us that it often seems that we are wandering the wilderness without the benefit of God’s pillar of fire to show us the way clearly. People will tell us stories of long personal struggles with moral questions or personal calls. These stories do not invalidate the truth that the foundation of our faith is God’s Word to mankind: the Lord Jesus Christ. When we are struggling with tough questions, we can look to God’s revealed Word in Christ for the answers. When one child mistreats another over the brand of his gym shoes, it is easy for us to tell both of them that Jesus said to love each other. It is harder to remember that truth when we find ourselves sitting in a pew next to a homosexual couple. The principle worked on a sunny day, and we must look to that same principle when the fog of controversy closes in.

When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw [Jesus] eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.”

If we remember that Jesus is God’s Word and try to live out that truth, we will still face questions that have no easy answer. After all, our faith in the GPS and the autopilot didn’t change the fact that we were in the fog. Those instruments only assured us that we were on the right course. They did not bring us immediately to our destination.

So, what are we to do when we don’t know what to do? Living centered in Jesus won’t immediately clear the fog or lift us out of it. What it will do is assure us that we are on the right path. The answers we need may be found only at the end of a very long journey, but they won’t be found at all if we allow our personal perceptions to divert us from the course set by God Himself in Jesus Christ our Lord.

“Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” [John 13:14-15]