This was written in 2005 to an engineer that I worked with back in the 1950s. His wife follows the Christian Science religion, and he professes no religion. I had sent him my report of the “Weekend to Remember” which was all about Christian marriages. He said the report was good, but he thought the most important thing to guide marriages is the way we handle money, delegating equal responsibility to each spouse. He also said he lives by the Golden Rule and thinks that this is all we need to live by. Here is my reply.
Dear Chuck, Thank you for your email message. It is always enlightening to hear from you. I heartily agree that the handling of money is very important. Many marriages break up over disagreements about money, or lack of money. Anita and I never quarreled over money. Until after I retired from Reichhold, she handled our finances in total except for investments. I took over then, not because I needed to but to utilize the computer tools that were then available. We still discuss and agree on many purchases, especially major ones.
The Golden Rule is very important for everyone to observe. We would be in a far better world if we all lived by it wholeheartedly. Some say that the Rule may be best stated as "Treat others only in ways that you're willing to be treated in the same situation”. Those who have thought deeply about it (not me) state that “the golden rule is best seen as a consistency principle. It doesn't replace regular moral norms. It isn't an infallible guide on which actions are right or wrong; it doesn't give all the answers. It only prescribes that our actions toward another not be out of harmony with our desires for ourselves. If we violate the golden rule, then we're violating the spirit of fairness and concern that lie at the heart of morality.”
“The golden rule, with roots in a wide range of world cultures, is well suited to be a standard to which different cultures could appeal in resolving conflicts. As the world becomes more and more a single interacting global community, the need for such a common standard is becoming more urgent.”
I have tried all my life to base my actions on the Golden Rule. I can still look carefully back and state unequivocally that I never knowingly hurt another person in any way. Of course my duties as head of our Canadian company dealt with separating people from their jobs at times. This was always a difficult and sad time for me as I knew it would impact their life. However, except for one sole person, everyone who had to leave remained a friend, someone with whom I could be comfortable.
I have found (for me) a much deeper meaning in life. I have accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and believe that he died for my sins. Continually I get help from the Holy Spirit in everything I do, when I ask. This is the most wonderful feeling. Also I have assurance that when my body dies, my soul, my real self will reside with Jesus. I know some simply cannot accept this, but I believe it and have personal evidence leaving no doubt in my mind. I still read with interest scientific findings of early man and have natural difficulty in completely rationalizing them with the Bible. In fact I have written a small treatise about evolution and Creation. Some scientists of renown cannot accept the Bible, while others of equal qualifications accept it wholeheartedly. Faith is something that cannot be proven to anyone else short of God intervening and performing a miracle. It is something you either have or don’t have.
Since I have come to faith, I am doing what I can to help others realize that this life on earth is only a blink of an eye in time, compared with the life of their souls in eternity. I have found through study of the Bible and other works and much thought, that we have two choices for our souls after we die. We can choose to follow Jesus and have our souls be with Jesus. Or we can choose to follow the world’s ways and become slaves of Satan, and eventually have an eternal life of torture. A person who comes to this understanding would be a fool to choose the latter. In Heaven or hell we will be completely aware of our life on earth and be either joyous or sad beyond belief about the choice we made.
There is a limited time in our lives when we can make this choice. No one has the certainty of knowing if they will even be alive tomorrow, or this afternoon. Accidents or other things can take our lives at any time. An acquaintance had a fall and after several weeks of unconsciousness, died. We must make the choice while we have the chance to do it!
I cannot do anything by myself to bring another person to faith, except to tell them what I know to be true. If they don’t want to accept this, I wish them well, but hope that someday they will become a follower of Jesus Christ. He is the only way to salvation! For more information on Jesus, read any one of the chapters in the New Testament.
I find that reading the Bible is an adventure. The Bible is very interesting, as interesting as any book I have ever read. The New International Version is in modern language. The “Life Application Bible” that I am reading now is a tremendous storehouse of explanation written by the teams that did the latest translation. They used all the modern tools and consulted ancient Greek, Roman, and Hebrew writings to get the best possible information. Also the NIV and other versions are on-line at https://www.biblegateway.com/.
Chuck, I know that others may have bombarded you with their urgings to have Jesus become a part of your life. Please give this some serious thought and don’t dismiss it just because it doesn’t seem to fit with what you already believe. I was an unbeliever in Jesus for many years, years that I now consider unfortunate.