Lovely Lady Mae, I shall tell you essentially the same thing I have told little Miss Margo, although with a slight alteration. I said to Miss Margo that I know next to nothing, which remains true, but upon further review, Lady Mae, the alteration is that I do happen to know quite a bit about one thing: How to get things so completely and utterly dead wrong. Fortunately, Lady Mae, this is not exclusive to myself, as everyone has an understanding of how to do exactly that, get things wrong, rendering myself not unique. A shame, that, isn’t it? How great it would be to be so special, being the only one with the fortitude to venture out into the world, voluntarily and willingly getting things wrong, so that others may get them right!? This is not so; however, Lovely Lady Mae, as it does not appear that anybody is so unique, perhaps in God’s eyes, surely, but not amongst each other. What humans do happen to know, Lady Mae, is that there are an infinite number of ways to do things incorrectly, while only one way to do them correctly, the way of God, for He is, as assuredly your mother and father will tell you, the way, the truth, and the life. If you were wondering when I was to stop speaking of myself, as this is addressed to you, not me, we have mercifully reached that point.
It would be of little purpose if I were to let you know of the infinite things that I do not know, Lady Mae; therefore, I ask you if you will allow me to let you know of the things I do know, consisting of only the things I have gotten wrong. Obviously, if you are reading this, you haven’t much of a choice, so onward we go. It is hard to conceive of a child being born into a more advantageous position than I, yet, here you are, Lady Mae. The advantage you have, that I have had, albeit possibly to a lesser degree, is not one of being born into wealth, as people tend to think of it, but one of being birthed by, in my opinion, two people where you would be hard-pressed to find two others more righteous than they. Of course, your mother and father would deny this claim, but this is me, writing to you, and that is my belief. Quickly, let me tell you what I know about belief, again, only knowing this after having gotten it wrong. Some people take pride in their disbelief, believing that they are audacious in so doing, while declaring that people who do believe are in a state of stupidity because believers are those who believe in something “without evidence.” How wrong they are! Does it not take more gall to believe in something, to lay one’s entire existence on the line for what one feels is the greatest good? Tell me, Lady Mae, who is the cardinal warrior between those two I have described!? Anyway, I have come to simultaneously respect and envy your parents, as I respect the way they have gone about life, which would be the Godly way, to the best of their capabilities, and envy that I have not done the same, at least not for the duration that they have. They are a true anomaly in the world in which we live. To my knowledge, not one soul can profess that they have a piece of either one of them, without delving into a potential belief of soul ties, for they belong solely and wholly to each other. That is really something. Oh, Lady Mae! Thankfully, you do not understand yet just how great that something is, for, in today’s world, it is something that is seemingly non-existent.
Before we continue, if I could be afforded to tell you a story about your mother, I remember the two of us were engaged in a sort of debate. You will have to forgive me, Lady Mae, as the root of the discussion alludes me, but it was something about that since men authored certain books of the Bible, are those words the word of God? This dialogue we had between us was before I became a seeker. All this talk of advantage, would you believe, Lovely Lady Mae, that I thought it was I who had the advantage, citing your mother as simple-minded!? I believe my contention was that because humans were authors of certain books in the Bible, that it is not the word of God to the fullest extent; therefore, an imperfect book. Oh, how wrong I was, Lady Mae! Your mother was right; I was wrong. With God being the Supreme Editor, let us say, of not only the Bible but of life itself, how is it that He would authorize words to be in His book that were not of His way? Why, of course they are His words! Could they be anyone else’s, could they be the words of a human, if we do not know the truth!? Anything that I write, or say that just so happens to be the truth, is indeed Him, speaking through me, for there could be no alternate explanation, as I am a human who does not know the truth. I suppose, Lady Mae, I tell that story in hopes that it proves your advantage.
If by chance, you are not yet convinced, Lady Mae, please allow me another story. There was a time, a very dark time, when I had found myself spiritually bankrupt. No, it had not been God who abandoned me; but I who abandoned Him. May this never happen to you, for what follows is sheer hopelessness, my Lady Mae. The other force, we shall not speak of his name, not because I am afraid to utter it, but because in what I wish to be a Godly piece, his name has no place here, but he was winning the battle against me, not the war, but the battle. Where was I to turn? Fortunately, Lady Mae, your father has become an outlet for people. A living example of how to do it the right way, mostly anyway, as again, he likely would humbly deny that anything he has done correctly was of his own doing. Not much came instantly from my intoxicated text exchange with your father, but it was more that he was willing to listen, ready to be of service, no matter my, or anyone’s circumstance. I cannot say with any confidence that before this, before I began to seek, that my relationship with your father extended too far beyond sports. With that said, recently, the last time I had seen him in person, he had said something to me that I could never have truly took-to-heart if not for the seeking of God, something that all of my cousins have said to me, something that I appreciate every time it is said by them, but this time, coming from him, I received it with a certain admiration. “I love you, Joshy.” Lady Mae, every time your father tells you he loves you, which I suspect will be all too frequently, may you meet it with the same respect and admiration I did at that moment. It means a lot.
My only fear, Lady Mae, which is only a fear because it is what I have done, in no way insinuating that you are destined to do the same, is that some people sabotage their advantage, electing to rebel against their near-perfect conditions, perhaps by His own design, as if that is the only way lessons are to be learned, through a rise, fall, and resurrection of sorts. Lovely Lady Mae, a simple awareness of this, that it is human nature to do so, may prevent you from traversing the same path I have, which, if I have done anything in this letter, I hope I have convinced you it is not the way. Stay the course, Lady Mae. Do not let them trick you into thinking your advantage is, indeed, a disadvantage, for it is not. Far from it, Lady Mae, it is a beautiful advantage. I pray that you do not peer over the fence, as I did, thinking that another has something “better,” for your parents surely will have cultivated a house of God, the only thing you shall ever need. Godspeed, Lovely Lady Mae.
Leave a Reply