Kathleen

I just returned from a visit to the doctor - not one of my favorite activities. It's been a long time since I treated myself to such a visit. I went kicking and screaming, and came back peaceful. I guess I expected a diagnosis that would have to include some terminal disease (aren't we all terminal anyway, on this earth, and just don't think about it much) - surprisingly, I didn't get one, and am "surprised by joy" to quote C.S. Lewis! There is a special kind of relief that comes with a good diagnosis - we have escaped death by disease, at least for a time.

All this brings to mind one who helped me find the road that causes us to escape eternal death - Kathleen. She was my best friend in my growing up years. We had the usual trappings that go with a close friendship, but one school year she came back and things were different in her life. We could all tell - she even carried a Bible to Jr. High school and sat around reading it at lunch and various breaks in the day. She had been to summer camp, and she had "given her life to Jesus". That was a totally unknown realm to me...I knew that my parents called people like that fanatics - but I wasn't sure what they were.

I had been searching for God, asking my parents how to find Him - they didn't know and told me to go to church somewhere - wherever I wanted. So I looked at the people I knew and decided that the most dedicated people I knew - the very most religious, were my Catholic friends, and I embarked on converting to the Catholic faith. I attended classes, but I didn't feel like I was getting answers to my questions about God - who He was and how I was to relate to Him, and please Him. Still, it seemed a good place to start, and actually was as I gained a lot of knowledge.

Kathleen found out about my decision and called me one Sunday afternoon and asked me to come over to her house. When I arrived, she seemed rather nervous, and not like she usually was. Soon she took out her Bible and began to talk to me about Jesus Christ and her new-found relationship to Him , including an explanation of how all people have sinned and been separated from God by their sin, and how God sent His son, Jesus, to take the punishment for our sin by dying on the cross. She told me that He had died for my sins and if I would pray and ask for God's forgiveness, He would save me from eternal death, and actually send His Spirit to live in my heart and life. I was overwhelmed and prayed with her - with a small, unvoiced side thought that I would not have to become a "fanatic" like she was. However, when I prayed, there was a peace in my life which I had not before known, and I found that I WANTED to be like Kathleen and read my Bible whenever I could, and identify with this God Who had paid such a high price to rescue me from eternal death and separation from Him. It was a quiet beginning to a worldview and life that has never disappointed me, and has given me great joy and peace. There have been hard times, but He is there with me in them............

I didn't mention that when Kathleen became so bold in her identification with Jesus Christ, all her "friends" made a great deal of fun of her (it was a time when it was not politically correct to be whomever you want to be, without fear of rejection and mockery), and did some downright unkind things to her. Sad to report, I joined in the "fun", but inside I had tremendous unrest from making fun of a friend. And yet, so like the One she followed and loved, Kathleen did not strike back, but loved me so much that she risked more mockery to share her faith with me - her knowledge that I was headed for eternal separation from God was enough to bridge the fears of acceptance of peers, and reach out to take me on her journey. It isn't easy to do that at an age when acceptance is very important. I thank God for Kathleen - for her boldness, and for her bearing the love of God within and showing me the way to eternal life. She was a true and faithful and courageous friend. I remember you Kathleen, every time I open my Bible and see the little poem you wrote there, to encourage me in the way.