Don Wildmon

AFA/AFR founder

April 1994 – There is a hymn we sing in church. The first stanza goes something like this: “O Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder, consider all the worlds thy hands have made....”

Yesterday, on the way home from Kansas, I looked out over the clouds. I let my mind wonder about the awesomeness of God. I don’t have all the answers to all the unanswerable questions in life. But one thing, to me, is sure. This world is not an accident. We did not come from nothing. We are not an accident. This universe was shaped by an intelligent being whom we call God.

Do I believe that on faith? Yes. But more than faith, reason itself confirms it. There is a Creator behind this creation. Let us start with that.

What is He like? My feminist friends would call my hand right there, because I used the term “He”. Why do I use it? Because Jesus used it. Did He use it to identify the sex of God. I don’t think so. I think He used the term Father to help us humans understand what God is like.

I also recognize that there are those who have been so mistreated by their earthly fathers that they have a hard time relating to that term. Jesus was aware of that. But the ideal is still there. God, Jesus was saying, is like a loving father who would not dare give his child a stone when he asked for bread.

I believe God is love. I don’t believe love is God.

Not far into a discussion of this nature does one go before the question arises: “If God is like a loving father, why do bad things happen to good people?” To answer your question, I don’t know. Back in my seminary days, and in my days as a pastor, I’m sure I came up with some rational answer – to the best of my ability to do so. At this point in life, however, finding an answer isn’t necessary. I have already staked my life on the fact that I believe God is a loving Father.

Next point: I am convinced that this life is not the only life. There is something beyond. I don’t have all the answers to all the questions that such a declaration raises. I don’t have to have all the answers. I’m not God. But I do trust that loving Father to have prepared for those who love Him more than the ear can hear, the eye can see, or the mind can comprehend.

Final point: The purpose in life is not to attain material riches, or to become famous or powerful. The purpose in life is to be a child of God, to live like a child of God. To use what talents He has given in serving Him.

Then, when the time comes to die, we can know that we have lived life to the fullest.

“O Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder, consider all the worlds thy hands have made... How great Thou art, how great Thou art!’’