Chaplain Bill Wolfe
Llano County Sheriff’s Department
Well, here it is April again. Every year when I start trying to come up with something for April, I ask myself what sort of April Fool’s joke I can do. While I keep coming up dry, I remember that most folks won’t be reading my column on 1 April. That, in turn, reminds me of what my dad used to say when I’d try hitting him with an April Fool’s joke a couple of days early (or late). He’d tease me by saying "April Fool’s a-comin’; you’re the biggest fool a runnin’." Always made me blush.
Having decided not to try coming up with a joke, I was out walking the dog (for the ?? time that evening) and I was looking up at the multitude of stars when the thought came that there is so much that the collective "we" know so little about. I don’t know how many stars are in the constellation of Orion, but take, for example, the three stars that make up Orion’s belt. Three stars of apparently equal brightness and an equal distance between the two outer stars from the middle one. But, what do we really know for absolute certain about those stars?
As I pondered that for a moment, my mind recalled the passage in Psalms that says "The fool says in his heart that there is no God." (Psalms 14:1 and 53:1)
A fool is someone who clings to a belief based on faulty assumptions. A fool, also, is someone that rejects help in a time of need or takes risks that have a high probability of fatal consequences. Why is a person a "fool" to say God doesn’t exist? Let’s look at a few reasons that spring to mind.
The first becomes obvious when gazing at the night sky. To hold as a core belief that God doesn’t exist is to proclaim that the person knows everything there is to know about everything there is to know something about. When you look at the night sky, you can see only a portion of Space. Just because you can’t see a constellation in the other hemisphere doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. I can maintain that the Southern Cross doesn’t exist, but those in Australia and New Zealand would think me a fool.
Okay, what’s the difference between a live person and a dead one? There is something that changes at the moment of death. Life departs. Can you prove that "Life" exists? Can you see it? Can you feel it? Can you hear it? You can see the "effects" of "Life," but you can’t see "Life itself." Just because you can’t see God with the physical eye doesn’t preclude His existence.
Secondly, a person who denies the existence of God is a fool because that person cuts him/herself off from the benefits of a personal relationship with God. It’s a rarely fortunately person that makes it through this life without suffering heartache and tragedy and personal problems. The person who denies that God exists has nowhere to turn for help when the pain and hurt is deep inside. Alcohol and drugs may take their mind off of the problems and pain, but that doesn’t help them heal or solve the problem. The person who says God doesn’t exist isn’t going to find Him in their time of need because, as Scripture records, to find God, one has to "believe that He is, and is a rewarder of those who seek Him." (Hebrews 11:6)
Then thirdly, we get one go-round in this life, and the "roulette wheel" is spinning. We don’t know when it will stop and you’ve only got until it does to place your bet. To say that God doesn’t exist is to put all your chips on 32 Red. If the wheel stops on anything other than 32 Red, you loose the whole enchilada. That’s a mighty big risk when you consider what the Bible says the options are.
I’m sure there’s a bunch of you that are saying "Yeah, but if God does exist, why does He allow." I don’t know. It would sure make our jobs easier if He didn’t. But the perps will answer to Him eventually. They’re not getting away with it; it’s just "deferred adjudication" - there’s one sentence and no appeal.
Hey, thanks for listening and riding along again.
Blessings to you and yours.
Chaplain Bill
llanochaps@moment.net
