Spiritual Journey, Part III
Mar. 16th, 2006 08:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
greybetaIn more hierarchical forms of Christianity, “godparents” are responsible for the assisting a child’s parents with regards to that child’s religious upbringing. Wikipedia, though, says “The modern definition of godparent is an individual chosen by the parents to take a vested interest in raising a more complete human being.”
Well, I have godparents, though I consider them more of my “American grandparents” since Brimstone Baptists don’t have godparents. Their names are Ralph and Jane, a kind elderly couple who helped my parents out when they first came to America. In fact, they named my sister and me.
From whenever I could begin to remember, I went to East Side Baptist Church. Ralph and Jane took my sister and me to church every Sunday. Supposedly, I was one of the most well behaved little kids they ever met. Supposedly.
They became a part of our family. I recall playing with their grandchildren when I was younger, watching NFL football with one of their grandsons who was my age. They keep up with my family, and we keep up with theirs. Now that I’m older, I drive over to their house to exchange Christmas gifts.
One summer, I asked to read Ralph’s memoirs from the time he served in World War II. Ralph is member of history’s “greatest generation,” the one that fought against the Nazis and their Axis allies. He was a tail gunner for a B-17 Flying Fortress. He dedicated his memoirs to the co-pilot of his B-17, who fell to some shrapnel from AA fire.
They have a lot of history, but never really talk about it unless they asked. No, they’re more liable to talk about Jesus and what our Savior can do for your life than anything else.
In a lot of ways, they’ve been a blessing for me. They always showed me cutouts from the local newspaper whenever my name showed up (and it appeared quite often). They’re quick to identify the positives in me, and they’ve seen enough in life to know when to be patient.
And, of course, they’re praying for me right now. Because they really care for me.
When I think of a “Christian,” they are the first two people who come to my mind. Even now, when they’re eighty-six years old, they serve the Lord. They wake up early every Sunday morning to take other elderly people to church, elderly people who have not gone to church since they were kids.
Why would they do that? You’d think at eighty-six you could retire from doing such work. But no, as long as they draw breath, they will cheerfully do the Lord’s work.
I remember asking them once why they would go through the trouble of doing what they do. They laughed as if the answer was obvious.
“Because Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, who redeemed us with His blood, asked us to do so.”
Can the answer really be that simple?
Well, I have godparents, though I consider them more of my “American grandparents” since Brimstone Baptists don’t have godparents. Their names are Ralph and Jane, a kind elderly couple who helped my parents out when they first came to America. In fact, they named my sister and me.
From whenever I could begin to remember, I went to East Side Baptist Church. Ralph and Jane took my sister and me to church every Sunday. Supposedly, I was one of the most well behaved little kids they ever met. Supposedly.
They became a part of our family. I recall playing with their grandchildren when I was younger, watching NFL football with one of their grandsons who was my age. They keep up with my family, and we keep up with theirs. Now that I’m older, I drive over to their house to exchange Christmas gifts.
One summer, I asked to read Ralph’s memoirs from the time he served in World War II. Ralph is member of history’s “greatest generation,” the one that fought against the Nazis and their Axis allies. He was a tail gunner for a B-17 Flying Fortress. He dedicated his memoirs to the co-pilot of his B-17, who fell to some shrapnel from AA fire.
They have a lot of history, but never really talk about it unless they asked. No, they’re more liable to talk about Jesus and what our Savior can do for your life than anything else.
In a lot of ways, they’ve been a blessing for me. They always showed me cutouts from the local newspaper whenever my name showed up (and it appeared quite often). They’re quick to identify the positives in me, and they’ve seen enough in life to know when to be patient.
And, of course, they’re praying for me right now. Because they really care for me.
When I think of a “Christian,” they are the first two people who come to my mind. Even now, when they’re eighty-six years old, they serve the Lord. They wake up early every Sunday morning to take other elderly people to church, elderly people who have not gone to church since they were kids.
Why would they do that? You’d think at eighty-six you could retire from doing such work. But no, as long as they draw breath, they will cheerfully do the Lord’s work.
I remember asking them once why they would go through the trouble of doing what they do. They laughed as if the answer was obvious.
“Because Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, who redeemed us with His blood, asked us to do so.”
Can the answer really be that simple?
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no subject
Date: 2006-03-17 06:19 am (UTC)I think that things that are tangental to crucial aspects of our personality are the things that wind up having the simplest rationalizations, simply because we've never felt the need to dissect why we do them. Why we do them is so integral a part of who we are that our reasons are simple because they don't have to be complicated -- we'd never live in any other way. Technically, we don't need a reason at all.
I might even go so far as to say that when you're dealing with the kind of self-sacrifice you're talking about, it might be that the reasons HAVE to be simple, because anything else, and the person doing the reasoning would have already talked themselves out of it.
no subject
Date: 2006-03-17 01:26 pm (UTC)My grandfather is like this, too. He never, ever talked about The War when I was growing up. Now that he has gotten on in years, he is more open to discussing it.
“Because Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, who redeemed us with His blood, asked us to do so.”
Can the answer really be that simple?
For some people, yes it is. Whatever you do for the least of your brothers, you do for Him. It is reassuring to know that there are still people out there who will take time out of their lives for others.
no subject
Date: 2006-03-17 02:13 pm (UTC)Yes, I think it is that simple. However, the fact that the answer is simple doesn't make it easy.