01/03/2021
Happy new year to everyone! For many years, I've been blessed to write a monthly article for the Singing News Magazine. Here's the one that was printed in the January 2017 issue...
As we close out one year and begin another, it’s impossible not to reflect a little bit on the meaning of our journey. For those of us who are believers, the meaning of life is not a mystery at all.
“Tomorrow morning,” the surgeon said, “I’ll open up your heart.” The boy interrupted, saying “you’ll find Jesus in there.”
The doctor continued, “No… I’m cutting open your heart to see what damage has been done.” The boy smiled. “But when you open up my heart, you’ll find Jesus in there. That’s what the Bible says. That’s what the songs say.” The surgeon smiled at the boy’s parents and said, “When we get him sewed back up, I’ll speak with you about the damage and what steps should be taken next.”
After the surgery, the doctor was sitting in his office, recording notes from the operation that had been completed. “Damaged aorta, damaged pulmonary vein, widespread muscle degeneration. No hopes for transplant; no hope for cure. Prognososis… death within one year.” The doctor sat back in his chair, alone in his office, holding back tears. “Why?” he asked aloud. “Why would You do this? You created him and now You’ve cursed him to an early death.”
The surgeon was angry. Why would God send an innocent child to earth only to die? About that time, a nurse was walking down the outside hall. She was singing an old song that the doctor hadn’t heard in years. “Farther along we’ll know all about it. Farther along we’ll understand why.” Suddenly the doctor seemed to hear a still small voice in his own heart. “My little child shall soon return to his eternal home. Here with Me, there is no more pain and no more parting. His parents will join us one day. He has done his duty. I did not send him from the flock to lose him, but to bring home another little lost lamb.”
The surgeon wept. Soon he was sitting at the bedside of the boy and his parents. The boy awakened and whispered, “Did you cut open my heart?”
“Yes,” said the surgeon. “What did you find?” asked the boy.
The doctor replied, “I found Jesus in there.”
