Rev. Billy

In my last entry, I mentioned the revivalist Billy Graham. As I re-read the words of Jesus in my old bible, one reminder of the reverend is the bookmark I've been using. It's an old newspaper clipping of the daily column Graham used to write. The column was titled "Thank Mother For Care". Mother never felt I was fully appreciative, and I'm sure she was right, at least in that my gratitude was never properly expressed.

As I continued to read, a second clipping fell from between the pages. Mother clipped quite a few things from the paper in her 61 years, and filled a few scrapbooks with the results. I unfolded this new item, now yellowed with age, and found yet another entry of "My Answer" by Billy Graham. Sadly, there's nothing to indicate the date. I would estimate its age at between 35 and 40 years. The title of this column is "To Be Happy Forget Yourself". I'm including its contents here, and hope I'm not in conflict with Reverend Graham's wishes in doing so:

In these times of modern living I find that I think only of my own
pleasures, desires, worries, and troubles. I want to love God and
worship Him, but how can I change?

-- T.S.

A wise man once said, "The smallest package on earth is a man
wrapped up in himself," and this seems to be your dilemma.

One of the splendid things that faith in Christ does for us is to
extricate us from the 'web' of self. Jesus said, "If any man would
come after me, let him deny himself." Those who 'lose' themselves
in His cause always find themselves. You are the living example
of the 'hell' people experience when God is left out of life.

I once heard it said of a man who possessed a magnetic per-
sonality: "When he comes into a room it seems to light up with
a new glow". What did this man do? He had the knack of get-
ting people's minds off themselves, making them relax, and
helping them be natural.

When Christ comes into a human heart, it is as though that
life was lighted up. He has a way of making us forget our-
selves, our burdens, our worries, and our cares. Throw
everything you have into Christ's cause. Surrender your-
self; lose yourself, and you will find yourself. "He that
loseth his life for my sake shall find it", He said.


I don't know about you, but the spirit of that column seems very Zen to me. If we agree that the spirit of Jesus on earth is love and compassion, then Reverend Graham's advice to abandon ourselves to this tender mercy is no other than the essential path to enlightenment. I believe that, throughout the world, the ideal of enlightened being is embodied in one who can truly live the New Commandment to "love thy neighbor as thyself".

As if my knowledge of the sad truth needed reinforcement, this "definition of enlightenment" highlights the great distance between myself and this state of being. I struggle constantly with anger and hate, despite knowing that once I give in to them, I'm lost. If my coat is taken, can I truly find the grace to offer my cloak as well?