The question I was asked as a 10-year-old

Daily writing promptIf you could meet a historical figure, who would it be and why?View all responses

I grew up in a non-religious, non-church-going family in the Bible Belt. (We finally started regularly attending a church when I was in junior high school, but I didn’t like it.) Once when I was about 10 years old my family visited a small church and I found myself in a kid’s Sunday School class of a few children. I was expecting a religious lesson, but instead the teacher asked today’s writing prompt: “If you could meet a historical figure, who would it be?” (Her wording might have been slightly different, but that was her question.)

Then the teacher called on each child and they gave various answers. One kid answered Jesus Christ. When it became my turn to speak out in that historical roll call, I also answered Jesus. The teacher acted like Jesus was just like the other interesting historical figures — dead and gone. She used the rest of the class to give us moral lessons from the dead people we had mentioned and left us thinking that Jesus was no more than an ethical example to teach us to behave properly.

It was about nine years later when I learned that that class was a lie! I discovered firsthand that the eternal God who became a man as Jesus Christ isn’t dead stuck in the past or passively waiting for the future. He’s alive, present, and active here and now! In a moment something incredible happened in my heart and Jesus became more real to me than my physical surroundings. I’ve never been the same.

I met a historical figure who died and rose again and has been my constant companion and best friend ever since that moment. History is truly His story and Jesus invites all people to let Him be their closest friend and personal guide through life. We are called to live in a glorious now with the risen Jesus, not just to long for Him in the past or in the future. Will you?

The elephant in the universe is its grand design and intricate precision. From the smallest atoms to the human Adams everything in the universe is assembled in astonishing ways.

Perhaps a better question (writing prompt) is: “What is me?” What is this conscious awareness and sense of being within me? I believe it’s a reflection of the Being who made me.

As I was writing this as a visitor in someone’s home, I realized that I needed a picture to go with it. I glanced to my right and noticed the spine of a particular book on a bookshelf. I walked over and pulled it out and it’s the perfect picture for this post: Guns, Germs, And Steel — The Fates of Human Societies.

All human societies end. The risen, eternal Jesus never does.