No Atheists There

A few days ago, I wrote about Richard Dawkins, an avowed atheist and proponent of evolutionary thought. He has actually made it a mission with the emotion evoked by a holy war to discredit any religion that acknowledges God. Islam is as much a target as Christianity. Atheism has always confused me. Even in the years that I rejected any kind of religious belief, I always knew there was a God. I have known that since I could form my first thought. We all know it that way…so I thought.

Three years ago Lozanne and I spent 5 weeks in a regional cancer centre in order for me to receive chemotherapy and radiation treatment. Every time I walked through that door, which was at least twice per day, I remembered the words spoken by my brother-in-law from the pulpit of our chapel. During one of his messages he said, “There are no atheists in the cancer ward”. How correct he is! Once you are in a situation that daily reminds you of your mortality, God becomes even more alive and real. You can feel His presence with renewed faith. In the cancer centre, you deal not only with your own battle, but those of others, some of whom are losing the battle before your very eyes. I can assure you that what you overhear in way of conversation in such a place is more talk about prayer and less talk about the existence of God. Bibles are not uncommon reading in the waiting rooms. God is mentioned openly and often, just as He is in the funeral home.

I often think lately about my own submission to the Lord during the 34 days I spent in the hospital recovering from two successive major surgeries. I was about as sick as you can get and still live to write about it. For weeks I was attached to every machine they could find. Tubes came and went from my body. I was fed through a direct line into my chest. I could move so little that the lower half of my body began to swell and grow very heavy. I reached a place that is difficult to explain. It was so peaceful that in a strange way I miss the feeling. When you have no options left in trying to use your own resources, you are forced to resort to leaning on the Lord. There is no other choice, but what a feeling it is! As I recovered, of course, I could feel myself moving away from that submission and relying more on my own powers. I remind myself often of the words of Matthew 11: 29-30.

29 "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
30 "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

Indeed this blog site is named after the yoke offered by Jesus. A yoke suggests that there are two pulling the load together. I try to remember every day which of us has the greater strength and I try very hard to submit to that strength.

Are you in the yoke? If you are in doubt about how to get into the yoke, my email account is monitored daily.

(Comments, corrections, suggestions or rebuttals are welcome. My email link is contained in “About me: view my complete profile” to the right of this page or use the comment section below which requires that you have a Google account