A Legacy of Love

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My first copy of scripture was a King James Version of the New Testament and Psalms. Inscribed on a blank page in the front of the book are the following words:
 
 
To: John Merle Haselton on his 3rd birthday, November 25, 1963.
My beloved Grandson and namesake,
 
My wish is that when you are old enough to read and understand this New Testament and Psalms that you will seek its council and then follow its advice freely. It will help you to become a man of high stature and respect, wherever you go or live.
 
Very Affectionately
Your Grandfather,
C. Merle Haselton
 
 
Now obviously at the tender age of three I was not able to read the King’s English or even this note from my Grandfather. Why then did Grandpa want to get scripture into my hands before I could even read?
 
Here is one reason I can give as I look back over my life. I have a photograph of my Baptism. The pastor is there in the middle to his right is my Grandpa as a representative of the session. As part of the baptism liturgy he asked the congregation the questions required in the constitution of the Presbyterian Church. One of these questions binds members of the church to educate me in the faith. I know that my Grandfather took that duty seriously.
 
Many people today would be alarmed at his instruction that I seek counsel from the Word of God. Even more alarming is the call to follow its advice freely. They would warn that if I followed that advice I would be called a fanatic or worse a fundamentalist. They would say that his advice is clearly the product of a backward era and that I must free myself from this advice if I really want to become a man who is respected wherever I go or live. If I want to enjoy true liberty of mind and action I need to leave the Bible and its teachings behind me.
 
This leads me to ponder and to question the wisdom of this age. Am I really any better off if I follow the path which this culture and nation are traveling? Are families (including my own broken family) more or less healthy now? Are politicians any more honest because they follow their own way instead of relying on the Bible to guide them? Technology has made it possible for us to share our words and thoughts (including this writing) with more people in less time than ever before. Has that made the world any closer? Do our words make for peace and reconciliation?
 
I cannot answer “yes” to any of these questions. What then am I to do? I must choose to follow and obey the words of God found in that marvelous book my Grandfather gave me. As for me I will serve the Lord. There is nothing else I can do. I will choose the path of true liberty that comes from living under the grace of God and I will encourage others to follow in that way.
 
I have seen that what the world calls progress and I am not impressed. It seems to me that this present age is the backward one. We have less freedom of speech, press, assembly, and religion than at any other time, which I am aware of, in the history of this nation. Slavery continues in this nation with tens of thousands of our children being used as sex slaves. Additional tens of thousands of undocumented persons are treated as slaves or worse. Women still earn less than men for the same work. There is no way to end these conditions without using the Bible as a guide. The utilitarianism, pragmatism, and relativism of this age have no answers to these problems and others like them.
 
As a nation we have taken American exceptionalism and turned it into an idol. We have forgotten that anything exceptional about this nation is a gift from God, given by grace, and not by any merit of our own.
 
What can I do to change the direction of this country? For now I will only share my wish for this nation and this world:
 
My wish is that you read and understand this New Testament and Psalms you will seek its council and then follow its advice freely. It will help you to become a people of high stature and respect, wherever you live.
 
Very Affectionately
Your servant,
 
John Merle Haselton

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