Thoughts On A Given Day

The other day I was “friended” on Facebook by a friend with whom I had worked and last spoken with (as best I can recall it, and that’s surely a toss of the dice) in 1979 when we both worked together as summer staffers at the North Carolina Baptist Assembly, or as we refer to it, Caswell. My friend almost immediately commented on an earlier post that I had made on Facebook. He said that I “hadn’t changed a bit.” When I first read this I was surprised. I would not have considered that I could have lived all these past years and not have changed. I began to think about all the changes that I had gone through in my life since 1979. Obviously, there were many. I still love the same woman I loved then, but we are married now, and have been for the past 34 years. I have raised three boys during that time, and I am proud to say that they are all better men than I am myself. I have two daughters in law now. This is a new and intriguing experience for me, and I’m still in the adjusting phase with that. Since that summer of ‘79 I have graduated from college, attended graduate school, taken a full-time job, been laid off, gone back to school again, and started over in an entirely new and unexpected profession. Since that summer of ’79, while working in my profession, I have also rejoined the military, by way of the South Carolina National Guard, become a combat veteran, and have retired from the military. Along the way, I found the time to write a novel that has been loved by some, hated by others, and ignored by most. Other things have happened through the years, but these are some of the highlights that jump to mind for me. I am, of course, older, blinder, deafer, (somewhat) grayer, and not nearly the excellent physical specimen (I can recall it however I so choose) and athlete that I was then.
I know that when my friend said I hadn’t changed a bit that he was not implying that I had not been down a long path, that the years have not been long, that I wasn’t older, or that I had not experienced changes in my life. This would be common for anyone, and surely he could not have meant that. But he did say I hadn’t changed a bit. What exactly did he mean by that? Obviously, he was looking at one thing I said, and that one thing reminded him of the young man he knew back in 1979. So I suppose that in a way he was right. There are things about me that have not changed since then. In spite of all the changes that have happened around me and to me during these years of my life, internally I am still much the same person that I was then. Wiser, I hope, due to experience, but still the same.
The faith that I had in God then I still have now. That is still the most important thing in my life, and no matter what path I take or have taken, I trust that will never change. The way I live my life is still dictated by that faith. Jesus Christ is my lord and savior, and I try to live in such a way that glorifies him. I would like to think that it was a glimpse of that faith, and the way it is lived out in my life that my friend saw in my comment on Facebook. I, at least, know that it was that faith which was the motivator for the way I have lived and do live my life. I do not see that changing in spite of what other changes may, and I’m certain will, come.

1 Corinthians 15:1-7, 58, 2 Timothy 3:14, 2 Corinthians 4:18
(From A Conversational Gospel, which is a published collection of Bible verses in my own paraphrased translation that I memorized as a means of keeping them constantly in my thoughts and available for conversation when the opportunity arises.)

I want to remind you of the gospel that was preached to you, which you have received and upon which you have taken your stand. By this gospel we are saved if we hold firmly to the word that was preached to us. Otherwise, we have believed in vain. Jesus Christ died for our sins, as was foretold by the Scriptures, He was buried. On the third day He was raised from the dead, as was foretold by the Scriptures. He appeared first to Peter and John, and then to the Twelve. After that, He appeared to more than five hundred of the disciples all at the same time. Then He appeared to James, and finally He appeared to all the apostles. Therefore, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. Continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of. Do not fix your eyes on what is seen, but on what is unseen, because what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.