HEAVEN KNOWS

I love calendars. Except for the fact that they continually remind me of my approaching expiration date, -(gulp!)-, I like to mark the time. I particularly enjoy "quote" calendars; the type that decorate the day with sayings of famous people or timeless words of wisdom. My favorite ones have a daily scripture verse.

Jenny and I just recently returned from some extensive traveling. Usually, following such trips, I crash immediately after getting home. (My wife, on the other hand, goes straight to the office to catch up on work!) The first morning back, I'm always curiously excited to see what my desk calendar has to say about the day about to commence.

This last trip was quite unique. We worked in Los Angeles and stayed in a hotel hosting an Atheist's convention! The hall in which they met was adorned with huge portraits of Charles Darwin and photographs of Dr. Richard Dawkins, the most noted of modern day proponents of evolution.

One day, while Jennifer visited a friend, I wandered through the convention hall and sat in on the tail end of a lecture. It amazed me to think how similar their meeting was to any Christian or Messianic conference! The speaker addressed a rapt crowd, skillfully using power-point to drive home his message. In the hallways were numerous tables carrying books, recordings, personal testimonies and atheistic "chotchkies," that is, "stuff," like jewelry, bookmarks and bumper stickers.

I struck up some conversations with various vendors and, in the course of our discourses, told them of my beliefs as they shared theirs with me. The talks were pleasant enough but, after a while, my brain got tired and my body began to react almost physically to the strange heaviness that accompanied that gathering.

And therein lies the difference between a conference in which God is honored and one in which God is denied. At first glance, you wouldn't notice it. All the folks are decently dressed, polite enough and dutifully sport name tags so the participants can get to know each other more easily. But look a little closer; read some of the words on the t-shirts, catch tidbits of conversations, feel the general atmosphere of the place, and the similarities between the relative events fades away.

I was grateful for the opportunity to see such a gathering close up. I was even more grateful that, many years ago, my eyes were opened to the existence of my Creator and my heart was alerted to the need for me-the created-to worship Him! I am certainly no better than those folks at the Atheist's convention---but I am---quite undeservedly---more blessed!!

And so I found it fascinating that the first quote that greeted me as I turned the page on my day-to-day desk calendar was the following:

"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." (Genesis 1:1)

As I read that, I couldn't help think, with some degree of sadness, of those obviously sincere souls in L.A. who had dedicated themselves so passionately to denying that there is a creator behind creation; a "first cause" behind all that has "been caused." Their lives are haunted by one brooding, eternal question: Does God exist?

My simple little desk calendar reminded me that, as to that question---heaven knows---and answers!

May GOD Bless You,

Marty