On Christ, the Solid Rock, I stand

By Jim Thompson
HCP columnist

I thought I would take a bit of a pause here and offer some clarification on my recent and planned columns from now until November.

From a secular viewpoint, I think the presidential election this year is likely the most important presidential election in my lifetime. I have offered my endorsement of President Donald Trump.

Politics is my avocation, much like you might follow your favorite sports team. Politics is important, but not the end-all and be-all of the world.  

I firmly believe the Triune God is in charge of His creation. Why He lets things go certain ways in what we call the secular world, I have no idea; but I trust the explanation will be clear one day.

I know folks who have themselves fully worked up over the pending presidential election. I would caution you to settle down and remember God is in charge, no matter how it turns out.  

If you go back and study how secular governments behaved in the times Jesus walked the earth, you will find that our government, at its worst, is not so bad. Doesn’t mean it has not been better and could not be better again, but compared to the days of the Caesars, it is a walk in the park.  

It also doesn’t mean we must be content with all the sins we see around us – but we are instructed to love one another, regardless of our (or their) sin.

When my grandchildren turn 10 years old, I start writing them a real letter each month. I put it in a real envelope, put a stamp on it and mail it to them, addressed to them, not in care of their parents. I cover all sorts of subjects with them.  

This is a portion of the letter my 15-year-old grandson got last month.

“When I was young, I didn’t have much, so I was interested in lots of toys…I have bought many, many new cars over the decades. If I counted right, 17, – and that is just the new ones,; it doesn’t count the used ones. I wanted a pretty and smart wife – that’s your Grandmother Thompson. I wanted to live in a nice house, and there have been seven of those. I wanted to travel the world, and I have done that. Yet, all of these things are worthless (except your Grandmother), and if they are not junk already, they soon will be.

“Having been diagnosed with cancer nearly 25 years ago was one of the best things that has happened in my life. It has brought me much closer to the serious stuff, my relationship with God. I have gotten to think of life as this way I describe below when I talk to people who don’t go to church or don’t go to church much.

“Life is like a modern airport. When you go in, you go through security. You are probably in the safest place on earth. And there are stores and food courts. Places to attract your attention and take your money. But the real reason for the airport is to properly prepare you to take off for a better place. An unprepared life is like an airport where you forgot to get on the plane.

“We tend to spend our time with the baubles and toys, when the real objective of our life here is to prepare for a better life there. It’s not cars, houses, travel, or a smart and pretty spouse. There is nothing wrong with these things as long as we don’t forget the real goal.

“If you get to live long, you will not begin to understand how quickly the next 60 or 70 years go by until you get near the finish. I remember many details of kindergarten as if it were yesterday – and I started kindergarten 69 years ago this next month.

Love,
Poppy

Back to the presidential election in the next column!

Jim Thompson, formerly of Marshall, is a graduate of Hillsboro High School and the University of Cincinnati. He resides in Duluth, Ga. and is a columnist for The Highland County Press.