Have you read books by Charles Martin? I do not remember how I stumbled upon them. They are the kind of books that keep you up late reading because you cannot bear to put it down! One librarian told me “You know it is a great book if you find yourself wondering what the characters are doing when you are going about your day!”

So here is another quote that stopped me in my reading. Charles Martin wrote this in Thunder and Rain.

“What’s that?”

I said, “My journal.”

“What do you do in it?”

“Write letters.”

“To who?”

“God.”

He chewed on his lip, looked down, then up at me. “You know him?”

I nodded. “A little.”  

Wowsers. When was the last time you wrote a letter to God? That is basically what my journal is made up of. Yes, there are quotes and occasional ticket stubs, but mostly things I want to discuss with God. I have spent the last couple years moving from pencil or pen and paper to keyboard. At my age, my handwriting has gotten so bad that keyboard is easier to read, too! Then I print out the writing and paste it in a journal.

So do you write letters? Keep a journal?
Have you told God what you think of this corona thing? If your feelings are negative He can handle that. He would much rather hear from you angry and upset than not hear from you at all!

I just finished Wrapped in Rain by Charles Martin. Faith is woven into all of his work. I am so grateful to this guy for providing such sound entertainment.

Dear Father, This stuff is really hard. I go from surreal daydreaming to shock to oh well. Watching that side banner on the TV reporting # of cases and # of deaths is stunning. We do not yet know personally anyone who has gotten this virus. When we hear of that diagnosis I am certain the stun will turn into something else. It is almost as if Bob’s near death experience with the flu in 2018 was just a practice run. I believe there is nothing here that surprises You. I know You are not perplexed. Show me/us how to receive Your comfort and assurance as this pandemic spreads to Ohio, Clermont County, Batavia Township. I believe there is nothing too difficult for You. Open our ears to hear Your voice. Soften our hearts to know Your Word is true. Trust: the cross, us, the cross. Amen.

And then these lyrics came to mind: “The cross before me, the world behind me.” So I looked up the lyrics online at Wikipedia. Seemingly the hymn lyrics were written by a Sadhu Sundar Singh! Did you know that? 1889-1929 He was raised in India within a Sikh family and “attended a primary school run by the American Presbyterian Mission where the New Testament was read daily as a ‘textbook.’ Sundar ‘refused to read the Bible at the daily lessons…To some extent the teaching of the Gospel on the love of God attracted me, but I still thought it was false.’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_Decided_to_Follow_Jesus gives a more complete story of his conversion and work throughout India. He had a conversion experience in 1903. He took the garb of a wandering holy man, a “Sadhu” convinced he could reach more people with the Gospel dressing clothing acceptable to the people. He died at age 40. His hymn was used widely in Billy Graham crusades. The focus is upon our commitment to Him.

This video does not follow his exact lyrics. They enlarge the lyrics to a time of commitment, for “such a time as this.”