Love Stories

by Bill Love

Once at a party, comedian Carl Reiner, as a reporter, interviewed comedian Mel Brooks, as a 2,000 year old man.

What was it like to live that long ago?
Lonesome.

Where did you live?
In a cave. Everyone lived in a cave; I lived in cave #76.

Did you have national anthems?
Oh, yes. Every cave had its own national anthem.

What was your national anthem?
My personal anthem was “All the other people can go to hell, except the one person who lives in cave #76."

The world still lives that way. The terrorists, from Timothy McVeigh to Osama bin Laden, feel justified in thinking and acting that way toward the United States. So we feel justified in thinking that way toward them, which makes them feel more justified, which makes us feel more justified. We all seem to be saying: All the other people can go to hell, except the one person who lives in cave #76. Each part of the world seems to live as if it were acceptable to have it as their anthem.

The psalmist said: The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein [Ps. 24.1]. God’s children live in the United States and in Northern Ireland and all of the former republics of the Soviet Union and in Israel and all Arab states including Iraq and in Cuba and....

There was a time, in a Session meeting, I used a bullet as a makeshift gavel. A man walked in off the street and told me he planned to use that bullet to kill himself. We talked. Before he left, I asked him to leave the bullet with me, so that he would know someone wanted him alive.

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble, the psalmist wrote. A part of our task as the people of God is to represent refuge, strength, and help. That can seem a daunting task. With so much to be done, we may see no difference we can make.

These words are written on the tomb of an Anglican bishop, who is interred in Westminster Abbey:

When I was young and free and my imagination had no limits, I dreamed of changing the world. As I grew older and wiser, I discovered the world would not change, so I shortened my sights somewhat and decided to change only my country.

But it, too, seemed immovable.

As I grew into my twilight years, in one last desperate attempt, I settled for changing only my family, those closest to me, but alas, they would have none of it. And now as I lie on my deathbed, I suddenly realize: If I had only changed my self first, then by example I would have changed my family.

From their inspiration and encouragement, I would then have been able to better my country, and, who knows, I may have even changed the world.