Known by Name

THIS WEEK my family went on a short vacation to the beautiful city of Charleston, SC. I love it because it's very old and historic, like walking through the past and the present at once. They're still giving horse and buggy rides, and on every street there are plaques describing the important histories of repurposed building that used to be homes or banks. So much of it is very well preserved and still used, and it's such a safe and peaceful place to walk through.

I got to visit the glorious old churches where the colored light casts itself down from the stained glass windows, and rows of pews wait to greet worshipers. I got to wander around old churchyards where the famous and the common were within feet of each other, and those resting since the 1700s lie close to a few who have been there for only ten years.

One of my favorite things we did, besides eating the South Carolinian food, was taking a Ghost Tour with my family. It was actually after dark, in the rain, so the atmosphere was perfect. Our tour was less theatrical and more historical than the other Ghost Tours available. We walked around old Charleston to several old buildings, many of them churches, and heard legends about ghosts wandering in churchyards or appearing in homes, a couple of them having appeared as oddly human phenomena in rare photographs, or completely unexpected to people who don't believe in ghosts. Most of them seemed to have unfinished business and unanswered questions, and they hung around the places they died or were buried. I know none of it holds much water, but I had a lot of fun and it was a really interesting tour.

Well I still don't believe in ghosts, although I don't know how to explain some of the stories and pictures from the tour. I do believe in angels, and that God sends them to earth sometimes for good reasons. But more than anything, this tour reminded me that God is sovereign. Just like He doesn't let souls wander around the earth aimlessly, He doesn't let one person or one member of His Creation out of His sight. It's good to know that we are important to Him, and that He is the pursuer of our souls.

Luke 15:4-5 "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninetey-nine in the winderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing."

I read A Wind in the Door, a novel by Madeleine L'Engle, my favorite author, in two days this week. I really swallowed it up. It wasn't a religious book, I mean, it's not exactly about God. It's actually a young adults' fiction novel. But you can see the Holy Spirit all over it. You can read it for yourself, but it's all about the importance of each Created thing, from the super microscopic to stars and galaxies, being known by name and having its integrity as part of a glorious Creation, and the danger that hate and rebellion bring to that integrity.

Psalm 147:3-5 "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name. Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite."

Whether we live or die, or whatever we do, we live forever to the living God of the living. Every time I look at a bird flying in the sky, I remember that I am precious to God, and that we each are precious to Him. God, who knows the nature of every soul, the makeup of each atom, the frame of the universe, the pace of time, and is above all He has made, sees us and knows us.

Matthew 6:26 "Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?"

It's really beautiful that our Shepherd doesn't forget about His sheep and let us roam through eternity's wilderness like nobody owns us. I had a great time in Charleston and I loved the tour, but don't think too hard about the ghost stories. When my days run out, I know I won't be wandering the streets of Jacksonville trying to find someone, or roaming my house like I think nothing has changed. And I definitely won't be creeping people out in cemetery photographs. I'll be busy gazing at Jesus forever. How do you go anywhere when you're looking at that smile?