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Charles - The Envelope

The Envelope

   As a lawyer, I am sometimes asked which has been the most interesting case I have handled. The one that almost always comes to mind is one I call ‘The Envelope’. I like to tell about it by stating at the outset that it gave me no pleasure to open the envelope, for I knew as clearly as the day, seventeen years ago, what the note inside had said.

   It had all begun when I attended an investment seminar given by an internationally renowned figure in the world of finance.

   By way of introduction he had asked us all to turn round, look out the back window and locate the mansion standing atop a small hill with a commanding view of the ocean. When we had done so, and turned back to face the speaker, he announced, “I bought that house yesterday.”

   After allowing those words to sink in, he turned to the person at the end of the front row to his left and asked her to whom she made out her first check at the end of the month when payments had to be made. He proceeded to ask everyone in the front row the same question. Answers included the landlord, the mortgage company, “my wife”, and so on. When all had responded, the speaker said the first check he wrote out at the end of each month was to himself, adding, “That is how I came to buy that mansion yesterday and why you are here today.”

   He then addressed the occupants of the second row, asking each of them in turn how many business suits they had. The largest number was five. He said, “I have thirty-one, so that I can travel the world conducting seminars such as this for a whole month without having to worry about my wardrobe.”

   Next it was the turn of the third row, the subject, the number of neckties each possessed. Quite a few respondents didn’t know, but none approached the hundred the speaker said he possessed, “so that I can make allowances for cultural differences in the course of my world travels”.

   The presentation continued in like vein for what seemed to me to be an inordinate length of time. Eventually, the speaker asked if anyone in the audience had any questions for him. When it looked as if no one would answer, I stood up, surrounded by the well-annotated books and files I had taken out of my briefcase, hoping I looked every inch a credit to my profession.

   Picking up and opening one of my files as if to start a formal interrogation, I asked the speaker, “How many times have you been divorced?”

   “Why, three, if that’s of any relevance at all”, came the reply.

   “How many children and stepchildren do you have?” I asked next.

   “Three of each actually, but what’s that to you?” retorted the speaker, clearly put out by my questions.

   “Is it the case you’ve lived alone these past three years?” I continued.

   “Yes, but where precisely are you going with your highly personal questions?” demanded the speaker.

   “I wanted you to compare what you obviously see as great success when measured in terms of real estate, business suits and neckties, with the number of homes you’ve broken, lives you’ve ruined and children you can no longer call your own.” I had clearly touched a nerve as the speaker’s self-assurance crumbled before us.

   “One last question – perhaps,” I said, reaching down into my briefcase and withdrawing a sheaf of newspapers which I then held conspicuously in front of me for all to see. “Do you have the funds with which to mount a vigorous defense against the accusations of fraud reported throughout today’s foreign press?”

   The speaker slumped down into his chair, nearly missing it altogether in his haste to be seated.

   After a moment or two’s silence, I made my way to the front of the audience and told them the real reason for my being at the seminar today.

   As a lawyer and accomplished investor, I had followed the speaker’s career with unusual interest, knowing full well the accusations that had been made against him overseas. Had he of made a clean breast of things today, I might well have kept quiet. When it became obvious he was not going to do so, I felt compelled to let everyone know, sooner rather than later, at what cost the speaker had amassed his fortune and that, in so doing, he had developed a darker side to his nature than was generally known. In the event, everyone left the seminar once the organizers had promised a full refund to all paying participants.

   A week later, my secretary asked if I would take a call from ‘the speaker at the seminar you went to last week’. Instantly aware, I replied I most certainly would. My caller identified himself as Charles and asked if I would mount a vigorous defense against the accusations of fraud that had since been brought against him. We agreed to meet the following afternoon.

   I asked Charles to go over his entire investment career, omitting no detail however small. By the end, it was hard even for me to determine whether he was motivated by greed or malicious intent to deprive others of their funds. I mentioned this to Charles. He said that was one of the reasons he had approached me: to make the best possible case out of his particular circumstances. He also said I would most certainly know more than anyone else about his case: how it was to be presented was up to me.

   I told Charles that, if I were to take the case, he would have to accept the fact that my belief system was the very opposite of his. Where he believed in divorce, I believed that those whom God had brought together no one should separate. Where he appeared to have scant regard for his children, I acknowledged that children were the pride of their fathers and grandchildren the crown of their father’s old age. Where Charles had constantly striven for more and more, I knew what it was to be content in every situation. Where he had had even less regard for the feelings of others, I believed that you should treat people as you would wish them to treat you. And so I continued, while Charles appeared to listen attentively. When I had finished, he said he saw no problem with our respective differences, given that our relationship would be that of lawyer and client.

   I asked Charles if he had the funds to repay in full with interest, all those whom it was claimed he had defrauded. Having seen the press reports, he stated without hesitation that he did. I said therein lay the grounds for a possible defense. While a jury was always likely to be predisposed towards the underdog, they could be expected to be at least somewhat favorably disposed towards a defendant if restitution was to be made in full. At this observation Charles brightened considerably.

   I warned Charles he would have to declare his assets in full without holding even the smallest amount back. To reinforce my point, I told him the biblical story of the husband and wife who had both died where they stood when they had lied in saying the amounts they had brought to certain apostles were all they had to declare. In Charles’ case, death would instead be a long prison sentence. I could see the prospect of prison was anathema to him. He readily agreed to make a full disclosure of all his assets. I got the impression they were considerably greater than the sums he was alleged to owe.

   On Charles’ repeated assurances that our differing belief systems would not jepodize our professional relationship and that he would disclose his assets in full, I agreed to take on his case. It was then I wrote a note to myself and placed it in a sealed envelope with my case notes.

   As I was nearing the end of my closing argument at Charles’ trial, the body language of the jury suggesting we had a good case to answer, the door behind the judge opened slowly and quietly to admit four law enforcement officers, three in uniform. On a nod from the bench to the bailiff, the uniformed officers circled the courtroom and took up their places on either side of and behind Charles; as he was seated at a table, he was thus prevented from moving in any direction.

   On a second nod from the judge, the plain-clothes officer went to the bailiff and handed him a single sheet of paper which the bailiff then presented to the judge.

   After reading the paper, the judge ordered that Charles be remanded in the custody of the uniformed officers; that both counsel meet the judge in his chambers immediately, and that the case be adjourned until 10 o’clock the following morning.

   On entering the judge’s chambers, both counsel were handed a copy of the paper. It was a letter from the state attorney general confirming receipt of information relating to previously undisclosed bank accounts overseas that Charles had tried to hide. He was subsequently sentenced to twenty-five years in prison and died seventeen years later.

   It was when I received news of his death and had opened my file to record it that I saw the envelope. The note I had written inside was a direct quote from the Bible. It read, “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the gates of heaven.” It gave me no pleasure to open the envelope.

For further reading: Matthew 19:3-6; Proverbs 17:6; Philippians 4:11; Luke 6:31; Acts 5:1-10; Matthew 19:24

Belinda - Just Because I'm Blind Do You Think I Cannot See

“Just because I’m Blind Do You Think I Cannot See?”

   For a number of years I lived next to a family of five. I remember it always impressed me how well Belinda, the daughter, coped with her blindness. Our families worshipped at the same church, and while I cannot say we were close, we promised to keep in touch when my job required me to move overseas. Eventually, however, we even stopped exchanging cards at Christmas.

   On taking early retirement, I decided to look up old friends and acquaintances before settling down, and that is how our two families became reunited. While I had been blessed with the opportunity to travel the world, including living and working in many different countries, I was touched beyond measure by the story my erstwhile neighbors had to tell, and which had caused them never even to think about moving from the family home. Here, as best I can recall it in their own words, is what they had to say. It began in all innocence with a simple question posed by the father of the family.

   “Belinda, what would you like for your 18th birthday?”

   “The answer to a question,” came the immediate reply.

   “No, seriously; your mother and I would like to get you something special to mark the occasion.”

   “Yes, dear, and if you tell us now, or at least think about it, we’ll have time.”

   “No, thank you,” said Belinda quietly, “the only thing I want is the answer to just one question.”

   “Then why not tell us now,” said her mother somewhat impatiently, “why wait until your birthday?”

   “I have other plans for that day,” Belinda replied, getting up and going to her room.

   “I wonder what all that was about,” said her mother, fishing for the remote.

   Belinda’s father made no reply, but a feeling of uneasiness crept over him. From time to time, he would gently ask his daughter whether she was ready to ask that all-important question, but quoting Melville’s character, Bartleby, she would reply, “I would prefer not to.”

  On the day of Belinda’s birthday, when she, her parents and her two brothers were at dinner, her father asked her again if she was ready to ask her question.

  “I would prefer not to; after dinner, please, if you don’t mind,“ came the reply.

  The meal over, Belinda went to her room as usual. A short while later she came downstairs again and, unusually for her, stood outside the room where the rest of the family was seated watching television. After a moment she announced that she was ready to ask her question.

  “What is it, dear?” her mother called over her shoulder.

  “Would you mind coming out here for a moment?” came the reply.

  Her parents got up and went to the hallway. They were surprised to see their daughter dressed ready to go out.

  “What is it, dear?” her mother repeated.

  Making sure she had the full attention of both her parents, Belinda asked quietly, “When you decided to buy this house six years ago, why did you not ask me which room I would like?” Her dumbfounded parents just stared at her. Eventually her mother stammered something about buying houses being the sort of thing parents decided.

  “But you asked both my brothers which rooms they would like,” responded Belinda.

  After an awkward pause, Belinda’s father said quietly that, if he didn’t ask her which room she wanted he couldn’t now remember why, but he was sorry if it had upset her.

  “Just because I’m blind do you think I cannot see?” retorted Belinda.

  So saying, she opened the front door behind her, and in what was obviously a carefully rehearsed manoeuvre, a burly taxi driver stepped into the house. Without a moment’s hesitation, he turned right, opened the closet door and picked up two suitcases hidden behind some long coats. Tucking one suitcase under his huge arm, he gently took Belinda by the elbow and steered her outside the house, down the path and into his waiting, bright yellow taxicab. And then they were gone.

  Later that evening, as her father was locking up the house before retiring for the night, he heard the sound of music coming from Belinda’s room. He thought something must be wrong because the same words kept being repeated over and over again. He recognized them as coming from an old Beatles’ song: “She’s leaving home after living alone for so many years.” Her father sat down heavily and listened to the constantly repeated words. He was still there, listening to them, when his wife found him next morning.

  A great many years later, when Belinda was teaching Braille at an institute for the blind, a colleague asked her if she had caught the tail end of the six o”clock news that morning. She said she hadn’t. He then asked her if she had ever lived at such and such an address. She said she had.

  “Well,” her colleague replied, “because of your unusual last name I wondered if the message was meant for you. It was one of those SOS calls that are sometimes broadcast. This one asked if someone with your name who was last known living at your old address could call the police as their brothers were dangerously ill.”

  Belinda hoped the emotion she felt inside was not displayed on the outside. Over the many years since she had left home, she had often thought about her parents and brothers but had never made any attempt to contact them. While her father was soft-spoken, kind and gentle, Belinda resented the fact that he had effectively allowed her mother to rule the roost. Her mother was well meaning but did not know what it was to show any real affection for her immediate family, while effortlessly endearing herself to others. Her brothers, well, they had each other and in the eyes of their parents could do no wrong.

  When Belinda left work at the end of the day, later than usual because of a heavy caseload, for once she didn’t want to go home, even though it was raining heavily. As she walked slowly and carefully the short distance to her apartment, she heard someone say, “Jesus loves you all the more when it”s raining.”

  Belinda stopped. No one had ever told her with such sincerity and conviction that she was loved.

  “You see, He wouldn’t want you to slip and hurt yourself.” Belinda did not move, her umbrella keeping the worst of the rain off her.

  “Won’t you come in out of the rain for a minute?” asked an inviting voice, “we have coffee and biscuits and it’s nice and warm inside.”

  Belinda allowed herself to be escorted into what she took to be a church hall. Her host plied her with refreshments, sat her down by a roaring fire and asked her what she was doing out on so dreadful a night. The hot coffee, the nourishing biscuits, the warmth of the fire, the cheerful sound of voices all around her, and the unobtrusive attention of her host, all combined to cause Belinda to lower the guard she had so carefully built around herself for more years than she could remember. She replied truthfully that, after a long day at work, she didn’t feel like going home, the radio message she’d been told about preying on her mind.

  “Would you like to talk about it?” her host asked gently. And Belinda did, going all the way back to her reasons for leaving home so many years ago. She had never done this before and it felt good finally to get it off her chest.

  “Should we make that call?” inquired her host after Belinda had been silent for a while. Belinda nodded quietly. In a matter of moments her host lifted her to her feet and led her out to the street where a police car drew up, its emergency lights flashing. Once seated inside, the officer said the journey to the hospital would take about five and half-hours but she would improve on that if she possibly could.

  Throughout the long journey, Belinda’s host told her about a loving, heavenly Father who taught us that we must have forgiveness in our hearts, because only then would He be able to forgive us. Certainly, those who had wronged us should first ask for our forgiveness, but then we should be willing to extend it, on as many as seventy times seven occasions if they were sincere in seeking it.

  Belinda listened with growing interest as her host told her it was often the case that those who did not forgive others caused actual harm to themselves, while those who had wronged them were not even aware they had done so. Belinda’s host urged her, if there was still time, to be reconciled to her brothers and her parents, to forgive them in her heart for whatever wrong she felt they had done to her, and to free herself from the lonely life she had chosen to inflict upon herself.

  “And if there isn’t time?” Belinda had asked.

  “If you sincerely forgive those who have wronged you,” came the reply, “even if you cannot be with them, God will surely forgive you the wrongs you yourself have done. And in so doing, He will bring you such comfort as will then enable you to comfort others, thereby banishing loneliness from your life. The alternative, putting yourself beyond God’s forgiveness, was unthinkable.”

  Belinda’s host had then told her the story of Jesus’ response to His disciples as to whether a man who was born blind suffered that way because of either his own sin or that of his parents. The answer was neither: God had a plan for that man’s life that He was working out, just as He had a plan for Belinda’s life that He was even now working out.

  The hospital security staff were waiting for the police car as it pulled up sharply at the emergency entrance. The nurse who was with them said there might still be time if they hurried. Belinda’s brothers had been in a severe car accident and had now been in intensive care for nearly twenty-four hours. The next hour or so would be critical for their survival. In the meanwhile, visitors were not allowed. There was no word about their parents.

  Not long afterwards, another nurse with a drawn face came out to say she was sorry but the patients were fading fast and were not expected to recover. Belinda was invited into their room, and as their lives slowly ebbed away, she spoke quietly and humbly of the forgiveness she offered to them and their parents, there at her brothers’ bedside. She thanked them for the good times they had had together and said she was sorry for the bad times.

  Belinda became aware of a quiet sobbing in the background. For the first time she sensed the presence of the members of the surgical team gathered in the room to say farewell to two patients they had fought so long and hard to save. Later she was to learn they had done the same for her mother in this very room three years earlier.

  With a composure that was masterful to behold, Belinda hugged and thanked everyone in the room for all their efforts to save her brothers. In so doing, she brought to all a measure of comfort that helped assuage the grief they bore so bravely. Her expression of heartfelt gratitude included the police officer who had driven so expertly in atrocious conditions to bring her to the hospital in record time. The officer stood silently by the door, before offering to take her charge home again whenever she was ready. Belinda sensed that she too had been crying.

  Eventually Belinda was left alone with just her host. Looking down at her brothers through sightless eyes, she reminisced with them some of the good times they had had together as children. For the first time she regretted leaving home, and yet she had planned it all so carefully, even leaving the music on in her room for the family to listen to after she was gone.

  “She’s leaving home...”; Belinda’s voice drifted away into silence.

  “...after living alone for so many years.” It was the soft spoken, kind and gentle voice of her host who finished the sentence for her. As Belinda turned to face her father, she found that she could see.

For further reading: Matthew 6:14-15, 18:21-22; Luke 11:1-4; 2 Corinthians 1:3-4; John 9:1-3

Alan - If You So Choose

If You So Choose

   There wasn’t a vacant seat to be had at a recent meeting of our school board. Fireworks were clearly expected and fireworks duly exploded, sparked off by the objection I raised from the body of the hall.

   he chairman of the board of governors had called the meeting in response to parents’ concerns at what they saw as an increasingly liberal interpretation of the curriculum by the head of the department of religious studies. At the conclusion of the meeting I had the very real but wholly unexpected privilege of being offered that self-same position.

   I could tell from the growing display of restlessness from other parents around me that the speaker was straying too far from the fundamentals of Christianity. How much worse would it get? Enough was enough: someone had to act and that someone was me.

   “I object, Mr. Chairman”, I said audaciously, rising to my feet.

   Immediately, albeit slowly at first but quickly gathering momentum, applause broke out from all sides, easily drowning the response of the liberal minority.

   On being acknowledged by the chairman, I strode to the podium, waited for the by now prolonged applause to die down, and began to speak.

   “I would rather live my life believing there was a god, and when I died find out there wasn’t, than live my life believing there wasn’t a god, and when I died find out there was.

   “This is so important; I’m going to repeat it.

   “I would rather live my life believing there was a god, and when I died find out there wasn’t, than live my life believing there wasn’t a god, and when I died find out there was.

   “Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the opportunity to take issue with the speaker.

   “I do not share your view, Alan, that miracles can happen but forgiveness of sins cannot. I understand you base your view on the fact that miraculous events can be witnessed whereas forgiveness of sins cannot.

   “There is a wonderful story about this in the Bible. Some people brought a sick man to Jesus to be healed, but because of the throng, they could not get into the house where Jesus was teaching. So they lowered the sick man, still on his bed, through the roof. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the sick man, “Your sins are forgiven you.” But some religious leaders reasoned among themselves saying, “How can anyone but God forgive sins?” When Jesus perceived their thoughts He asked them whether it was easier to say, “Your sins are forgiven you, or rise up and walk?” Jesus said this so that people would know He had power to forgive sins. Jesus then said to the sick man, “Arise, pick up your bed and go home”, which he did.

   “Alan, reverting to my opening statement, I wonder if you are familiar with the tale of the teacher who answered her young pupil’s inquiry as to the existence of God by asking if he could see the tree outside the classroom window. The boy said he could. The teacher then asked if the boy could see the bright blue sky. Again the boy said he could. The teacher next asked if the boy could see God. The boy said he couldn’t. The teacher responded by saying that therefore God did not exist.

   “The little girl sitting next to the boy put her hand up and asked if she could pose some similar questions to her classmate. With a smirk on her face the teacher said she could. 

   “The girl asked the boy if he could see the tree outside the classroom window. The boy said he could. The girl then asked if the boy could see the bright blue sky. Again the boy said he could. The girl next asked if the boy could see the teacher’s brain. The boy said he couldn’t. Quickly the girl responded by saying that therefore she did not have one.

   “It is not recounted what happened to the little girl but it is just possible the teacher - and you, Alan – are on your way to committing the unpardonable sin.

   “Let me make myself absolutely clear. In case you are not aware, there is one sin, and one sin only, which God does not forgive. In His infinite mercy and loving kindness towards us, God has made it possible for even the worst of sinners to find redemption through the atoning blood of His only begotten Son, Lord Jesus Christ – with one exception. That exception is blaspheming against the Holy Spirit.

   “Put simply, blaspheming against the Holy Spirit refers to knowing of the existence of Jesus Christ and then rejecting Him. Obviously if someone had never heard of Jesus, an ever loving God would not hold that against them. An example would be a member of a primitive tribe whom missionaries had not reached. But if we, knowing full well who Jesus is, choose to reject Him, we have committed the unpardonable sin. 

   “Committing the unpardonable sin means we will be eternally – note that word, eternally - separated from God, situated forever beyond His ability to forgive us our sins.

   “The Bible tells the story of an unnamed rich man and a beggar called Lazarus who was laid at the rich man’s gate, hoping to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. In the fullness of time both men died. The angels carried Lazarus to Abraham’s side in heaven, while the rich man went to hell. In his torment, the rich man asked Abraham if Lazarus could come and dip the tip of his finger in water and cool the rich man’s tongue, “for I am tormented in this flame”. The answer was no. The rich man then asked if someone could be sent to warn his five brothers lest they too “come into this place of torment.” Again, the answer was no: they have Moses and the prophets to listen to for advice and teaching.

   “The story has some very telling – and chilling - points about it. In both heaven and hell we are fully conscious of our surroundings. In heaven we get to be with the Lord and to be seen and recognized by those in hell. In hell we can call out for help but to no avail. We had our chance, an abundance of chances in fact, to accept the Lord Jesus Christ while on earth but chose not to and now we must pay for it.

   “I can hear you say, Alan, that these are events that cannot be witnessed and hence are of no significance to you. Perhaps you have heard of Voltaire, the great French writer who was also, tragically, an outspoken atheist. It has been said of him that, on his deathbed, he realized he was going to hell, even saying, “I wish I had never been born.”  Such was the extent of his suffering; the nurse who was assigned to look after him in his last days vowed she would never again undertake the duty of ministering to an ‘infidel’. She was true to her word. These circumstances are well documented. I commend them to your reading, Alan, should you still find it necessary.

   “The Bible tells us that, in heaven, God will wipe away all tears; there will be no more death, no sorrow, no crying, and no pain, because the former things will have passed away. When that time comes, Alan, would you not wish to echo the thoughts of Sydney Carton and say, “It is a far, far better rest I go to than I have ever known?” 

   “If it is not too late for you, Alan, because, by the grace of God you may not yet have committed the unpardonable sin, you can know for sure you are on your way to heaven by taking just five simple steps. These can be taken right here, right now, if you so choose. 

   “First, you must understand that God loves you. The Bible tells us that God loved the world so much – that means you, me, everyone – that He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, so that all who believe in Him should not perish but instead have everlasting life.

   “Second, you must understand that every one of us – there are absolutely no exceptions - is a sinner. The Bible records that all of us have sinned and so fallen short of the glory of God.

   “Third, you must understand that sin has a price that has to be paid. The Bible tells us that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

   “Fourth, you must understand that Jesus Christ died to pay the price of your sin. The Bible records that God commended His love toward us in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

   “Fifth and last, you must ask in prayer for Jesus Christ to be your Savior and then claim His promise of eternal life. According to the Bible, whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 

   “The choice is yours, Alan. If you have not made it already, I urge you to do so and to do so quickly, for none of us knows the day or the hour of our demise.

   “To conclude, there is an interesting tale in the Bible of a man who had so much grain he vowed he would pull down his barns and build larger ones. Then he would say to his soul, “You have much laid up for many years; take life easy, eat, drink and be merry.” What he didn’t know was that the Lord would require his soul that very night.

   “Alan, if God required your soul this very night, to where would it fly – to heaven or to hell, to everlasting life with God or eternal damnation without Him? If you cannot even now make up your mind, will you be saying to yourself as you leave this place tonight, I would rather live my life believing there was a god, and when I died find out there wasn’t, or, I would rather live my life believing there wasn’t a god, and when I died find out there was?”

For further reading: Mark 3:28-30; Matthew 12:31-32; Luke 5:18-25, 16:19-31; Revelation 21:4; John 3:16; Romans 3:23, 6:23, 5:8, 10:13; Luke 12:16-20

  http://www.comfortingscriptures.com/stories/Alan_-_If_You_So_Choose.html