LETTERS FROM CHARITY

Part 1

Dear Ms. Wespero,

First, let me thank you for taking the time out of what I’m sure is a ridiculously busy schedule to respond to my email.  In all honesty, I’m really quite surprised that you would do that, and I’m even more surprised and honored that you would write at such length.  Thank you very much.

I have read your response multiple times and thought through each of the points you made.  It really clears things up for me.  There’s one thought, though, that I was hoping I could explore a little further, if you’ll permit me to be so bold.  I know that I may be taking advantage of your kindness, but I do hope you won’t think I’m wasting your time.  These are things that have been troubling my heart for some time, now, and the opportunity to speak out about them has already been so helpful to me.

You mentioned that believers should be meditating on the Torah because the author of Psalm 1 (not to mention David in Psalm 19 and Psalm 119) speak of the blessings which come from doing so.  I’m pretty sure you were referencing Psalm 1 when you said that we should find the Torah delicious.  You went on to say that it’s not just the commandments in the Torah that we should meditate on and think about but also the lives of those who experienced covenant relationship with God.

I confess to no small amount of confusion as to what you meant.  I guess my confusion isn’t just about the idea of doing that much thinking about the first five books of the Old Testament but also about the idea of meditating on the stories found in those books.  Growing up I just always assumed the stories of the Bible were for teaching children and when we got older, that’s when we moved on from the stories into the real meat of what the Bible is saying.  Maybe I haven’t been exposed to the same kind of teaching you have, but I also feel like concentrating on stories is a little bit dangerous.  Stories aren’t objective and they’re subject to interpretation.  Stories don’t usually deal in hard facts and truth, do they?  Aren’t they, by their very nature, to be taken with no small amount of caution since human beings are so prone to embellishing?

I attend what most people would probably consider a fairly traditional and conservative church, and the teaching usually centers around the Gospels and the letters in the New Testament (okay, I just read that last sentence and realized that I should have just said “the New Testament”).  Now that I think about it, if we touch on the first five books of the Old Testament all in my church, it’s usually just as a fairly short reference.  I’ve always thought this is the way it should be since we don’t live under the Law anymore.  Is there really much merit in focusing on rules and regulations that Jesus abolished when He came?

I hope you don’t think I’m being obnoxious or combative.  As I said, some of these questions have been on my heart for years and I very rarely get the opportunity to bring them up to, well, anyone.  There have been times I’ve tried but the response has been…less than awesome.  It’s been either blank stares or borderline hostility that I would dare question how things are done.  That you took the time to answer me without making me feel like I was stupid beyond all reason or heretical and possibly blasphemous was a blessing the likes of which it might be difficult for you to imagine.

You also asked some questions about me in your response (much to my surprise and, I confess, delight), and I will try to answer them as best I can.  I’m the eldest of two—my sister is eighteen months younger—and I was raised in a fairly traditional Christian home.  My father was an elder in our church and my mother taught Sunday School, usually children in the early grades of elementary school.  It was a medium-sized congregation and while I don’t remember much about it from when I was a young child, I do remember that it had a pretty active youth group.  We did quite a few musicals and went on missions trips and helped out with children’s camps that the church sponsored.

As for how I became a Christian, well, it’s kind of a funny little story, I suppose.  My sister has always liked grape juice.  Actually, that’s an understatement of monumental proportion.  She’s fanatical about grape juice.  I used to tease her when we were kids because she had a perpetual grape juice stain on her mouth.  I used to call her “Grapie” (her name is Grace and my parents always called her Gracie) which, upon reflection, was not in any way clever or witty.  Anyway, one morning at church we were celebrating the Lord’s Supper and Grace became spectacularly upset when my mother told her she couldn’t have any grape juice.  This was the first time she’d had to sit through “big church” as we called it, and she wasn’t too happy about the whole thing.  Being denied grape juice sent her over the edge and she threw the kind of tantrum that got her immediately whisked out of the service (which might have been her plan to begin with...).  When we got home, instead of the normal posterior lashing I expected to be doled out, my parents were uncharacteristically restrained.  They sat both of us down and said they wanted to talk to us.  I had no idea what was about to happen.  There was an almost gentle demeanor about them and, to be quite honest, it was unnerving.  They explained to Grace why she hadn’t been allowed to drink the grape juice and asked her some questions about Jesus that I had no doubt she’d be able to answer since those things had been drilled into us since we could understand language.  Sure enough, she answered dutifully and then my parents asked both of us if we would like to ask Jesus to come live in our hearts.  Even though I was only eight at the time, I remember wondering how a fit over grape juice ended up with my sister and I praying to ask Jesus to into our hearts.  But my parents seemed so oddly eager and I didn’t want to disappoint them.

I mentioned earlier that I attend a rather traditional church.  I’ve been going there for about five years, now.  I was first invited by a friend but even after she left when there was a big church split, I stayed.  I’m honestly not sure why except that it felt at the time like it would have taken too much energy to look for somewhere new.  Once the chaos died down a little, things seemed to return to normal and I figured I’d made a good decision to stay.

I just glanced over your questions one more time and I realized I forgot to say that I am single.  I’ve never been married and I don’t have any children.  I came close to being engaged when I was in my early twenties, but it didn’t work out.  I’m sure it was for the best.  He wanted a large family and I wasn’t sure I wanted to have children at all, much less a lot of them.  He got married about two months after we broke up and now has eight kids.  So I guess I’m happy for him.  He got exactly what he wanted.

Thank you, again, for taking the time to write back to me.  And while I would welcome another email from you, I completely understand if your schedule doesn’t permit that.  I will always be grateful to you and thankful for you.  May God continue to bless your ministry.

In Christ,

Charity