"MAIN LINE"

Many of us have loaded up the car then left Oklahoma heading out west to the bright lights of Sin City, City of Lost Wages, Gambling Capital of the World, Marriage Capital of the World or a dozen other monikers coined for Las Vegas.

Odds are good if you have made that sixteen or seventeen hour drive on Interstate 40, you stopped at the “Big Texan Steakhouse” in Amarillo to grab some grub while staring at the 72 ounce steak table to see what fool is trading a day or two of heartburn for a free piece of a dead steer. Odds are good if you are a man you will have a hard time accepting a young mother of four kids, weighing only 120 pounds holds the Big Texan record for eating THREE (3) 72 oz. steaks in twenty minutes. Not only did she eat three 72 oz. steaks but gobbled down three baked potatoes, three sides of shrimp and three rolls.

You probably stopped to swim in the crystal blue hole at Santa Rosa, NM and maybe spend the night at the famous 1930’s like “El Rancho Hotel” in Gallup, NM. Next, you stopped at the Petrified Forest near Adamana, AZ and the Meteor Crater at Winslow. Regardless of how big a science nerd you might be, once in a lifetime is more than enough to see the mile wide meteor hole in the ground.

Next stop is the Grand Canyon and Bright Angel Point which has the hype of being the best place to view the Grand Canyon. Finally, you are heading down the stretch to Viva Las Vegas so you can win baby a new pair of shoes after one last stop to see the iconic Hoover Dam. You see a raised copper plaque you haven’t bothered to read in the previous twenty trips to the Hoover Dam called the “High Scaler” memorial which is a tribute remembering John Tierney and his son, Patrick Tierney and others who fell to their death. On December 20, 1921, a crew surveying locations for the dam got caught in a flash flood, and John Tierney who was working on that survey crew was lost forever in the raging Colorado River, one of the first casualties of the project. Then on the same exact date, fourteen years later, December 20, 1935, John’s son Patrick fell to his death from one of the two intake towers located in the same place his dad was swept away.

Fast forward fifty two years later and Patrick Tierney’s granddaughter Kay sat on the front row at the funeral service, stone faced. Her insides, however, were boiling. Listening to all the wonderful things being said about the man in the casket in front of the altar, lying there before God and everybody. The man, who through no choice of her own, had raised her.

Of course, no one knew what she was feeling. She hid her anger very well. Self-hatred consumed her. She had never once, in over 20 years, told a soul about the hell this man had put her through.

A nice gentleman stood in front of the mourners and crowd stated, “I’ve known a few men as good as he was, but not many.” Kay wanted to vomit. Good man? Is it a good man to come into a seventeen-year-old girl’s room and ask to see her private parts? Is it a good man who tells dirty jokes when he is driving you to school?

These thoughts raged in Kay’s head until she could take no more. She started shaking so violently that she ran up the aisle, out of the church. Fleeing outside, she ran straight to her car and got inside to let out a primal scream followed by hysterical tears. The man was dead, yet even in death, her rage for him consumed her.

Kay cried until there were no more tears left. Finally, she pulled herself together and walked back into the church with grace and dignity.

A thirty-something female deaconess, who had followed Kay outside, watched her from a distance. After the service concluded, she saw Kay approach the casket one last time, and overheard her final goodbye.

Kay whispered, “I’ve hated you all of my life, and now, at long last, you’re dead. Goodbye, Uncle Bud and may you rot in Hell.”

The young lady approached Kay; “Hello, my name is Anne. May I say a few words of comfort to you?”

“You may try, but comfort isn’t exactly a word familiar to me.”

Anne spoke gently, “His passing won’t take away your pain. You have to forgive him. That is the only way you will ever find peace.”

Kay’s green eyes flashed. “Forgive him? You don’t know what he has done to me! I’m just glad he’s dead.”

“He’s dead, but your feelings aren’t. They will not die until you have forgiveness in your heart for that man in the casket there.”

“How can I forgive him? Just tell me how! He made his own choice to be immoral and crude that hurt me.”

“Just ask Jesus to come into your heart and give you the strength and courage to forgive a sick human being.”

Kay seethed as she left the church. That Anne person didn’t know what she was talking about. Kay went straight to her apartment as she was in no mood for an after service reception to hear more of what a “good” man Uncle Bud was.

That night, Kay dreamed of him, and her insides turned to fire. She woke up in such a stage of terror that her teeth chattered so hard she bit her tongue. She got up and cried for three hours straight, and then a voice within her whispered the words, “You have to forgive him.”

Finally, Kay dropped to her knees and cried out, “Jesus, forgive me for hating him, and give me the strength and courage to forgive him. Please, release me from this bondage of Hell.”

Suddenly, a feeling of freedom came over her, and she felt peace for the first time in her life. Anne had been right, she had to forgive in order to let go of the hatred that consumed her.

The following Sunday, Kay went to the church where her uncle’s funeral was held. She found Deaconess Anne there, thanked her, and asked, “How did you know?”

Anne simply smiled and said, “I’ve been there.”

The majority of us are like Kay in that we will hang onto hate for as long as possible towards someone who hurt or wronged us. Also like Kay, most of us require God to slap us upside the head so we will get on bent knees and pray for God’s help.

God teaches us to; “Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers.” (Ephesians 6:18) Why should we remain persistent in your prayers if we don’t get an answer? Persistent prayer focuses our attention on God. When we pray a prayer request over and over, it’s not to remind God. He doesn’t need to be reminded. It’s to remind us that God is the source of our answer and all of our needs.

The only way we can grow to spiritual maturity is to have our faith tested. One of the ways God tests our faith is by delaying some answers to our prayers. We don’t like it because unanswered prayers feels like God has blocked our number and bolted the locks on the Pearly Gates. We cannot fully understand Jesus is all we need until we experience Jesus is all we have.

The Bible says that when Jesus died on the cross, there was a veil in the Holy of Holies that separated where God’s Spirit was from where man was. When Jesus died on the cross, God ripped that veil—about 70 feet—from top to bottom, symbolizing that there no longer was a barrier. (Matthew 27:51) That gave us a red carpet access to God. We need to take advantage of our direct line because God wants to answer our prayers. Not only does He want to answer our prayers but He wants to shower us with good gifts of blessings. (Matthew 7:11)

Father God, thank You for being able to talk to You anytime, anywhere, anyplace. Remove anything from our hearts which leads to doubts or lessens our faith which might affect our prayers or beliefs. Let us take advantage of “Jesus Is On the Main Line” so we can call Him up and tell Him what we want!