For the first time in more than a decade we are not looking at the North Star, that forever diamond in God’s treasure house, from our study, hours before daylight on Christmas morn. Hard to believe, but we finally took reality by the throat and opted to leave our wonderful home while we still had our senses and strength— before we were carried out!
Ten years ago, we and Herb, III, and Mavis cut our way through manzanita and oaks, leveled enough of the hill, and built our two homes. Acreage soon became a park and gardens. And the house we drew the plans for became our oasis in a very busy world. Lots of socials, treasured friends, family ties—the home was everything we planned it to be on top of Hope Hill Ct (the County let us name it!). To celebrate her sadness, Norma broke her right arm two days before the moving van came!
We now live in Sun City, Lincoln Hills, CA, about 30 miles closer to the airport, in about 1/3 less house. Sold or gave away about everything, nothing would fit! Gave 35 cartons of books to Weimar College Library and still kept about 35! No grass, low-maintenance yard, and a delightfully appointed home. Very quiet—everyone must be 55 or older! The Lodge seems like a Four Seasons resort: 3 swimming pools, exercise room, plenty of activity rooms, library and a swell dining area.
We have been getting some kidding for the last several holiday messages: “Don’t you ever have any fun?” “Don’t you ever go anywhere?” “Do you just work all the time?” Norma and I just laugh because sometimes it seems we are very busy, either writing several books, devoting more than four years to Battle Creek’s “Historic Adventist Village,” never mind recovering from two heart attacks and a TIA. So we decided we should relieve your stress over us and take you on a few unforgettable vacations of the past two years:
· How could we ever describe our emotions during our two weeks in France, Belgium, Switzerland and Germany during May 2000, “reliving” D-Day, the Reformation, etc.
· In the last two years we have gone through the Panama Canal, both ways.
· Last July we cruised the Mexican Riviera with Herb’s family and Emily Sue, Viv Sue’s daughter.
· In September we linked up with Chip and Judy (Norma’s son and wife) for the last cruise of the season to Alaska, ending with a car rental for a dazzling week—best time to go!.
· The secret to the above is to go inside cabin at $599-$699 for 10 nights (only exception was the Mexican trip during peak time).
So we play hard, work hard, and rest hard! PPPA will be publishing a ms that I slipped in this past summer, Should We Ever Say, “I Am Saved?” Seems that every time we talk on this subject, the interest is sky-high. It did slow down the writing on God At Risk, which will be more substantial in its scope—but so did selling and buying homes, and then reconfigurating life in a new home. I am trying to promise that it will be finished by next summer.
The more I think about God’s risk in even bothering to create intelligences (angels, inhabitants of the various worlds), I start to lose my breath. How many parents would want to bring a child into the world if they knew in advance the horror of their diseases or the despair in watching them make heart-breaking decisions—and that you as a parent made it all possible! Especially when He could have zapped Lucifer/Satan before he deceived a huge number of fellow angels. Look at the risk of making this earth into a laboratory in which Satan and God would prove who has the best plan to run the universe. Look at the risk of sending the Creator-God of the universe to this earth to tell the truth about Himself, in such a way that He had to face the Evil One with the same liabilities that all children are born with, “risking failure and eternal loss.” Look further—at the risk of turning over to weak, bumbling human beings the same job description for which Jesus came to earth—to tell the truth about God in a believable manner, in life as well as words.
God took all these risks in the full light of reality, nothing was hid as to the final results. But the pain of seeing reasonable people and angels choose self-destructive habits, sucking into their vortex their own children, on and on. . . . who can measure that kind of hurt. But He knew that created beings would be nothing more than elephants or cats if they did not have the freedom to choose, freedom to say “No” as well as “Yes” to His counsel. Whenever we are cross-grained with the will of God, we can be sure that He is not angry, just hurt beyond words.
Freedom costs, it is never free! That is why we remember Normandy, Iwo Jima, and Guadalcanal! And Valley Forge and the awful consequences that came to many who signed the Declaration of Independence. And Calvary.
In writing the chapter on how Satan will use the United States as his major player in building his global coalition against those “who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus” (Rev.14:12), I rethought Satan’s methods from the first stroke of evil. He hasn’t changed, only his intensity. Note the various steps in his strategy since heaven’s war:
By pretense, consistent lies, though appearing to serve a noble purpose;
By blaming others for causing the crises;
By causing confusion in substituting policy for principle (the end justifies the means), substituting opinion for absolute truths, redefining the meaning of words;
By employing various forms of coercion—and all to one end, the eradication of dissent and individual freedom. If you were Satan, you would do all you could to: create panic, through “natural” disasters and environmental stress
Hang on, it’s going to be a very interesting ride! But we have read the last page! Cheers!
Herb & Norma Douglass — 1538 Perdita Ln, Lincoln Hills, CA 95648 — 916-408-5881 Douglass@starstream.net Copyright © 2002 Herbert E. Douglass. All rights reserved.