February 2001
Hello, my friends!
I imagine myself on a high ledge, hanging out with Jesus, maybe drinking a cup of coffee and sharing a one egg special, over light, wheat toast and grits in a bowl at the local Waffle House. We're looking out one of those big ol' windows and I see somebody way down in the valley.
"Hey, Lord. Check it out. There's Jimmy the atheist way down there in the hole."
"Yep. There he is."
"I don't understand that dude, Lord. He drives me crazy."
"He's gone through a lot of hurt, son."
"He just seems to hate you, Jesus."
"It's not so much me he hates. It's one of my 'followers'."
"That guy must have really hurt him."
"You got that right, Tim. And what's worse, he thought he was actually working for me."
"What did that guy do to Jimmy?"
"Judged him. He just let him have it. As if that's his job."
"So now he's turned away."
"Yep."
"Every night I get his email, and I try and answer it the best I can."
"I know you do, son."
"But I swear, sometimes I get so angry at him. . . It's like he is blinded to the truth."
"He is. The evil one has used Jimmy's own intelligence against him."
"You know what really gets me? It's when he says, 'If there is a God then let him kill me right now.' Then when you have mercy on his poor stupid self he thinks that's proof that you don't exist!"
"I've seen it all, Tim. And I have to admit every time I hear that prayer for me to kill him it makes me shake my head."
"And the things he says about you Lord. Sometimes I wish you would just strike him."
"You sound like John. He was rowdy just like you. But Tim let me tell you something---you can't argue someone into the kingdom. You have to love him into Heaven."
"Mighty hard to do. Especially cuz Jimmy is so dad gum mean."
"That he is. He's trying to get back at the Christian that did him wrong."
"What can I do to bring him back, Father?"
"Tim, this is a patience thing. Jimmy has been wounded. Deeply. He distrusts us. He thinks Christians are evil, deluded, weak minded. Everything you say is filtered through that perspective."
"Is he a lost cause, Lord?"
"Nope. We just have to keep lovin' on him."
"What if I can't answer his questions?"
"Don't worry, I'll tell you what to say. But remember, you can't win this argument. Just the fact that you're arguing works against you. Everything that you've told him is true, but he rejects it. The evil one has clouded his mind with anger. Jimmy can't even see it because his hurt is so deep. But the more you push, the more he associates you with the person who hurt him."
"What should I do then?"
"Love him, boy. Just love him."