My Name is Jude

Do you ever feel drawn to a particular passage continually, over and over? A passage that has drawn you for years, as though it held a special message or meaning meant for you to grasp? Not in terms of personal sin, but rather, as a warning for you; to look, recognize, and stand up in like manner. That is what Jude is to me.

I became a Christian almost 30 years ago. And for most of that time I did not take it seriously. Every time I strayed, however great or small the disobedience, I have always felt the conviction of my sins, and the Chastisment for my disobedience has been severe. There is always hope to come again and find favor with God, even if events in your life have shut the door on some blessings that God wanted for you, but that's not to say there aren't more, equally fulfilling blessing to receive. But I'm straying...

I am where I am today because of many, many poor choices; choices that went against the will of God. But do I have a good job? I have a fantastic job! Do I make a decent wage? Not the greatest for the skills I've acquired, but neither am I living in a van down by the river. My sins and the paths they have led me has brought me to the age of 46 single and never married, and yet I'm not unhappy. But I still get a feeling deep down that there is more; a path I am meant to follow... A work I am meant to do. My past will prevent me from reaching quite a few people, but the Lord has workers in the field that can reach them, and for that I am grateful.

I've found lately that tastes I once had for certain things are diminishing, but I can't imagine ever NOT liking Sci-Fi. I have my favorites...

When Worlds Collide
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Gattaca
THX-1138
Babylon 5
Farscape
Battlestar Galactica....

Perhaps one of my greatest loves is the work of Ray Bradbury. His short story 'Icarus Montgolfier Wright' is a work of pure art! But it's 'The Martian Chronicles' that allows his talent to carry so much weight in my eyes... and yet what has brought me to this post is the last portion of 'Fahrenheit 451', inwhich Bradbury envisions a world where people have simply forgotten that Firemen used to put out fires rather than start them; where the written word has become kindling, and fodder for salamanders. And yet it is the imagery he weaves at the end that so impresses me.

With books banned, what else would a few true believers do but memorize whole books? --That man over there is "War and Peace", over there is the "Book of Job". It was the image of men in a semi-monastic setting, committing their lives to the presevation of the written word, religious or otherwise; words that had no place in the consignation of oblivion.

Well, Jude has a special meaning for me. Especially in that I feel compelled to earnestly contend for the faith. And like Brabury's monastic living-books I am committing to memory the book of Jude, which, for whatever reason, was placed quite appropriately-- seemingly paranthetically --between the Epistles proper, and the Revelation. This day is certainly on par with the day described in Jude. And though they are not my words, I sense that the message they contain is who I am becoming.