A Baby's Hug

We were the only family with children in the restaurant. I sat Erik in a high chair and noticed everyone was quietly sitting and talking.

Suddenly, Erik squealed with glee and said, 'Hi.' He pounded his fat baby hands on the high chair tray. His eyes were crinkled in laughter and his mouth was bared in a toothless grin, a s he wriggled and giggled with merriment.

I looked around and saw the source of his merriment. It was a man whose pants were baggy with a zipper at half-mast and his toes poked out of would-be shoes. His shirt was dirty and his hair was uncombed and unwashed. His whiskers were too short to be called a beard and his nose was so varicose it looked like a road map.

We were too far from him to smell, but I was sure he smelled. His hands waved and flapped on loose wrists. 'Hi there, baby; hi there, big boy. I see ya, buster,' the man said to Erik.

My husband and I exchanged looks, 'What do we do?'

Erik continued to laugh and answer, 'Hi.'

Everyone in the restaurant noticed and looked at us and then at the man. The old geezer was creating a nuisance with my beautiful baby. Our meal came and the man began shouting from across the room, 'Do ya patty cake? Do you know peek-a-boo? Hey, look, he knows peek- a-boo.'

Nobody thought the old man was cute. He was obviously drunk.

My husband and I were embarrassed. We ate in silence; all except for Erik, who was running through his repertoire for the admiring skid-row bum, who in turn, reciprocated with his cute comments.

We finally got through the meal and headed for the door. My husband went to pay the check and told me to meet him in the parking lot. The old man sat poised between me and the door. 'Lord, just let me out of here before he speaks to me or Erik,' I prayed. As I drew closer to the man, I turned my back trying to sidestep him and avoid any air he might be breathing. As I did, Erik leaned over my arm, reaching with both arms in a baby's 'pick-me-up' position. Before I could stop him, Erik had
propelled himself from my arms to the man.

Suddenly a very old smelly man and a very young baby consummated their love and kinship. Erik in an act of total trust, love, and submission laid his tiny head upon the man's ragged shoulder. The man's eyes closed, and I saw tears hover beneath his lashes. His aged hands full of grime, pain, and hard labor, cradled my baby's bottom and stroked his back. No two beings have ever loved so deeply for so short a time.

I stood awestruck. The old man rocked and cradled Erik in his arms and his eyes opened and set squarely on mine. He said in a firm commanding voice, 'You take care of this baby.'

Somehow I managed, 'I will,' from a throat that contained a stone.

He pried Erik from his chest, lovingly and longingly, as though he were in pain. I received my baby, and the man said, 'God bless you, ma'am, you've given me my Christmas gift.'

I said nothing more than a muttered thanks. With Erik in my arms, I ran for the car. My husband was wondering why I was crying and holding Erik so tightly, and why I was saying, 'My God, my God, forgive me.'

I had just witnessed Christ's love shown through the innocence of a tiny child who saw no sin, who made no judgment; a child who saw a soul, and a mother who saw a suit of clothes. I was a Christian who was blind, holding a child who was not. I felt it was God asking, 'Are you willing to share your son for a moment?' when He shared His for all eternity.

The ragged old man, unwittingly, had reminded me about Mark 10:15... "I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."

Sometimes, it takes a child to remind us of what is really important. We must always remember who we are, where we came from and, most importantly, how we feel about others. The clothes on your back or the car that you drive or the house that you live in does not define you at all; it is how you treat your fellow man that identifies who you are.

God versus Science

'Let me explain the problem science has with
religion.' The atheist professor of philosophy
pauses before his class and then asks one of his new students
to stand.

'You're a Christian, aren't you, son?'
'Yes sir,' the student says.
'So you believe in God?'
'Absolutely.'

'Is God good?'
'Sure! God's good.'

'Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?'
'Yes'

'Are you good or evil?'
'The Bible says I'm evil.'

The professor grins knowingly. 'Aha! The
Bible!' He considers for a moment. 'Here's one for you.
Let's say there's a sick person over here and you can
cure him. You can do it. Would you help him? Would you try?'

'Yes sir, I would.'

'So you're good...!'
'I wouldn't say that.'

'But why not say that? You'd help a sick and maimed
person if you could. Most of us would if we could. But
God doesn't.'

The student does not answer, so the professor continues.
'He doesn't, does he? My brother was a Christian who
died of cancer, even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him.
How is this Jesus good? Hmmm? Can you answer that one?'

The student remains silent.

'No, you can't, can you?' the professor says.
He takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to
give the student time to relax.

'Let's start again, young fella. Is God good?'
'Er..yes,' the student says.

'Is Satan good?'
The student doesn't hesitate on this one. 'No.'

'Then where does Satan come from?'

The student falters. 'From God'

'That's right. God made Satan, didn't he?
Tell me, son. Is there evil in this world?'

'Yes, sir.'

'Evil's everywhere, isn't it? And God did
make everything correct??'
'Yes'

'So who created evil?' The professor
continued, 'If God created everything, then God created evil,
since evil exists, and according to the principle that our
works define who we are, then God is evil.'

Again, the student has no answer.
'Is there sickness? Immorality?
Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible
things, do they exist in this world?'

The student squirms on his feet. 'Yes.'

'So who created them?'

The student does not answer again, so the professor
repeats his question. 'Who created them?'

There is still no answer. Suddenly the lecturer
breaks away to pace in front of the classroom.

The class is mesmerized.

'Tell me,' he continues onto another student.

'Do you believe in Jesus Christ, son?

The student's voice betrays him and cracks.
'Yes, professor, I do.'

The old man stops pacing. 'Science says you have
five senses you use to identify and observe the world
around you. Have you ever seen Jesus?'

'No sir. I've never seen Him.'

'Then tell us if you've ever heard your Jesus?'

'No, sir, I have not.'

'Have you ever felt your Jesus,
tasted your Jesus or smelled your Jesus?
Have you ever had any sensoryperception
of Jesus Christ, or God for that matter?'

'No, sir, I'm afraid I haven't.'

'Yet you still believe in him?'

'Yes'

'According to the rules of empirical, testable,
demonstrable protocol, science says your God
doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?'

'Nothing,' the student replies. 'I only have my faith.'

'Yes, faith,' the professor repeats. 'And that
is the problem science has with God. There is no
evidence, only faith.'

The student stands quietly for a moment, before asking
a question of His own. 'Professor, is there such thing as heat?'

'Yes.'

'And is there such a thing as cold?'

'Yes, son, there's cold too.'

No sir, there isn't.'
The professor turns to face the student, obviously interested.

The room suddenly becomes very quiet. The student
begins to explain.

'You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat,
mega-heat, unlimited heat, white heat, a little heat or no
heat, but we don't have anything called 'cold'.
We can hit up to 458 degrees below zero, which is no
heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is
no such thing as cold; otherwise we would be able to go colder
than the lowest -458 degrees.'

'Every body or object is susceptible to study when it
has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body
or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-458 F)
is the total absence of heat. You see, sir, cold is only
a word we use to describe the absence of
heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in
thermal units because heat is energy.
Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the
absence of it.'

Silence across the room. A pen drops somewhere in the
classroom, sounding like a hammer.

'What about darkness, professor. Is there such a
thing as darkness?'

'Yes,' the professor replies without hesitation.
'What is night if it isn't darkness?'

'You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is not
something; it is the absence of something. You can
have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light, but
if you have no light constantly you have nothing and
it's called darkness, isn't it? That's the meaning
we use to define the word.'

'In reality, darkness isn't. If it were, you would
be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?'

The professor begins to smile at the student in front
of him. This will be a good semester.
'So what point are you making, young man?'

'Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical
premise is flawed to start with, a nd so your
conclusion must also be flawed.'

The professor's face cannot hide his surprise this
time. 'Flawed? Can you explain how?'

'You are working on the premise of duality,' the
student explains.. 'You argue that there is life
and then there's death; a good God and a bad God. You
are viewing the concept of God as something finite,
something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a
thought.'

'It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen,
much less fully understood either one. To view death
as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that
death cannot exist as a substantive thing.
Death is not the opposite of life, just the absence of it.'

'Now tell me, professor. Do you teach your students
that they evolved from a monkey?'

'If you are referring to the natural evolutionary
process, young man, yes, of course I do.'

'Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?'

The professor begins to shake his head, still smiling,
as a very good semester, indeed.

'Since no one has ever observed the process of
evolution at work and cannot even prove that this
process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your
opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a preacher?'

The class is in uproar. The student remains silent
until the commotion has subsided.

'To continue the point you were making earlier to the
other student, let me give you an example of what I mean.'

The student looks around the room. 'Is there anyone in
the class who has ever seen the professor's brain?'
The class breaks out into laughter.

'Is there anyone here who has ever heard the
professor's brain, felt the professor's brain,
touched or smelled the professor's brain? No one
appears to have done so. So, according to the established
rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says
that you have no brain, with all due respect, sir.'

'So if science says you have no brain, how can we
trust your lectures, sir?'

Now the room is silent. The professor just stares at
the student, his face unreadable.

Finally, after what seems an eternity, the old man
answers.

'I guess you'll have to take them on faith.'
'Now, you accept that there is faith, and, in fact,
faith exists with life,' the student continues.
'Now, sir, is there such a thing as evil?'

Now uncertain, the professor responds, 'Of course,
there is. We see it everyday It is in the daily
example of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude
of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These
manifestations are nothing else but evil.'

To this the student replied, 'Evil does not exist
sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is
simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold,
a word that man has created to describe the absence of God.
God did not create evil.

Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have
God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold
that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that
comes when there is no light.'

The professor sat down.

The student was Albert Einstein. Albert Einstein did
write a book titled God vs. Science in 1921.


"For we walk by faith, not by sight." (2 Corinthians 5:7)

Days of the Week with God

Monday, Wash Day
Lord, help me wash away all my selfishness and
Vanity, so I may serve you with perfect humility
Through the week ahead.

Tuesday, Ironing Day
Dear Lord, help me iron out all the wrinkles
Of prejudice I have collected through the years
So that I may see the beauty in others.

Wednesday, Mending Day
O God, help me mend my ways so I will not
Set a bad example for others.

Thursday, Cleaning Day
Lord Jesus, help me to dust out all the many faults
I have been hiding in the secret corners of my heart.

Friday, Shopping Day
O God, give me the grace to shop wisely so I may purchase
eternal happiness for myself and all others In need of love.

Saturday, Cooking Day
Help me, my Savior, to brew a big kettle of brotherly
Love and serve it with clean, sweet bread of human kindness.

Sunday, The Lord's Day
O God, I have prepared my house for you. Please
Come into my heart so I may spend the day and the
Rest of my life in your presence.