Keeping in Touch

In one of the “Mc Hale’s Navy” D.V.Ds a Japanese submarine has just sighted their Patrol Boat and they can’t get out of its way because their engine won’t start. Mc Hale tells Ensign Parker (his 2^nd in charge) to pray, and he does, but all he can remember is a prayer he used to say when he was a little child: “Gentle Jesus Meek and Mild look upon this little child.....” which is somewhat inadequate for that situation. However he recites it but it is pathetic to hear him doing so. In the other picture which is of the Gallipoli landing, I dare say that there wouldn’t be a soldier there who didn’t offer some sort of prayer. My   father in law was there as was my uncle, and to be involved in that very gruesome situation must have been horrific. I guess there would have been some there who had not been accustomed to praying and felt very much alone in “unfamiliar Spiritual territory”. Nevertheless God would have understood that too.

Of course it is most desirable that we have a good working relationship with our Heavenly Father and don’t wait until there is an emergency before we learn to pray. After all “we do have an Advocate with the Father; Jesus Christ the Righteous” (1John 2:1) and if every aspect of our life revolves around this relationship we will find that we don’t just look forward to a relationship with God in Heaven but also can have wonderful fellowship with Him right now because God is very willing to involve Himself in our lives if we request his involvement.

I was thinking about life to-day (imagine that) and it occurred to me that we are like a phone cable I once bought: After the conclusion of the 2nd World War army disposals stores were selling surplus equipment cheaply for many years. I wanted to connect our woolshed to our house by phone, so I bought a reel of phone line, the type the army used to reel out as the troops were advancing so the command post could keep in touch with the soldiers at the front. The cable was just a little thicker than the cable that connects a laptop to its charger. It consisted of one very thin copper wire and four thin high tensile steel wires. It was the copper wire that was the important part as it carried the phone messages (copper still serves house phones). The steel wires were just for strength and the whole lot was covered with a rubber covering to keep out moisture and stop short circuits. The rubber was covered with a cloth fabric to protect it from damage.  “What has that to do with our life” you may well ask.

Well, we are Spiritual beings with eternal life, and just as every component of that telephone cable was there to protect and maintain the copper strand that was in it, so everything we do in our human bodies should be geared to protecting and maintaining the spiritual life within us too, thus we can keep in touch with our Heavenly Father instantly throughout the day. Now if we are not maintaining this connection then we have “Lost the Plot” and will have to ask God to remove whatever blockage or damage there is that has disconnected us and of course He will do that (John 6:37 says “and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out”

God placed our souls in these bodies and gave us this beautiful world to enjoy. Yes it is important for us to eat good food, exercise and enjoy our surroundings as we work and play, but just as a child may enjoy the sports and fun available at school that child must never forget that the ultimate goal of schooling is for it to learn and qualify for a position in life when school days are over. Similarly we must never forget that our goal is Eternal Life in Heaven when our days on earth are over. Therefore we should accepted God’s forgiveness through Jesus and learn to interact with other people and develop  the fruit of the Holy Spirit which is love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, kindness, goodness and self- control thus we will be happy and also more comfortable to enter Heaven when our life on earth concludes.    Best wishes, Tom.