Friday, September 28, 2012

He is there. He is good.

I have quite a few drafts of blog posts waiting for pictures, editing, and for me to push the publish button.  They are coming.  I promise.

I thought I would share what I listened to today and post part of it.  If you head over to the Veritas Forum, look up Os Guinness as a presenter, and find his presentation at California Polytechnic State University titled The Journey: A Thinking Person's Quest for Meaning.  (Sorry if that is confusing, but I could not figure out how to link you there.)


One of my favorite, favorite parts of this presentation happens in the Question and Answer session (if you don't have time, you can skip to the 1:12:30 mark).  If you have time, listen to the whole thing and take notes.  (I listened to it like 4 Saturdays in a row during my long runs this past spring).

Os Guinness brings up the parable of the resistance fighter.

In time of war in an occupied country, a member of the resistance meets one night a stranger. They spend the evening in conversation. The stranger tells the partisan that he himself is a member of the resistance, indeed that he is in command of it; and urges the partisan to have faith in him no matter what happens. The partisan is utterly convinced of the stranger's sincerity and constancy and undertakes to trust him.

They never meet in conditions of intimacy again. But sometimes the stranger is seen helping members of the resistance, and the partisan is grateful and says to his friends "He is on our side." Sometimes he is seen in the uniform of the enemy handing over patriots to the occupying power. On these occasions his friends murmur against him; but the partisan still says, "He is on our side." He still believes that, in spite of appearances, the stranger did not deceive him. Sometimes he asks the stranger for help and receives it. He is then thankful. Sometimes he asks and does not receive it. Then he says, "The stranger knows best."

-- Basil Mitchell

In case you had a rough day or your flesh wants you to believe otherwise, remember that He is there and He is good.

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