April 20001
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Published with the belief that God acknowledges no distinction between the secular and the sacred.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In this issue:
Recently, a gentleman inquired about the THE CHURCHWARDEN and in the course of our conversation the content of this month's issue came up. I told him I was working on the story of how the Easter Bunny died and he said something to the effect of, "I hope you're going to put something good in there." I'll not venture a guess as to what the man was implying, but his comment does provoke me to offer the following explanation lest he and other humorless critics accuse me of accommodating the world's view of Easter. The three page article entitled, The Death Of A Cultural Icon is not a concession to the popular nonsense commonly associated with the holiday. Quite to the contrary, it's actually a deliberate mockery of such silliness, using humor as the vehicle for delivery. Judge for yourselves whether the article is "good" or not.
And for the record, I do not believe in the Easter Bunny, space aliens, or mythical hundred-pound brown trout. Also, I am a christocentric Calvinist and totally convinced the bodily resurrection of Jesus is the exclusive point of the Easter celebration. There--that should pretty well cover any concern the piece in question may cause about my sanity or belief system.
Well, maybe not the sanity part.
I think I need to put a moratorium on asking friends and family to write articles for THE CHURCHWARDEN. Last month my son- in- law, Jeff Moore, submitted something for publication, in which he made comments that portrayed me as a much nicer guy than I really am. And now, my best friend- the Reverend Duane Brown- has done the same thing in an essay he offered for the issue you're now perusing. Frankly, I'm embarrassed by the kind commentary of both Jeff and Duane because I know my own heart and how easy it would be to damage either relationship on account of my waywardness. If there's any objective truth reflected in the subjective sentiments of Mr. Moore and Mr. Brown it must be traced strictly to the saving work of Jesus who, by virtue of his imputed righteousness makes me acceptable to God and by virtue of his imparted righteousness, makes me acceptable to men. To Christ alone belongs the praise, certainly not to me.
Nevertheless, give appreciative attention Mr. Brown's excellent work despite the fact that I figure a little too prominently in it. Read between the lines and you'll discover some solid wisdom on the matter of friendship. This is a seriously important subject because we need to treasure those whom we call "friend," for they are gifts from God, flesh-and blood-symbols of the ultimate intimacy we'll have with Him for eternity if we know Christ as our Lord and Savior.
Thanks for your patience with the disclaimers, but I felt they were necessary--especially the first.
�copyright 2001, Perry S. Fuller
