by Keith Bassham
If the story of Socrates is taken at face value, he was tried for teaching others, particularly youthful others, to learn for themselves and to ask challenging questions about “the way things are.” When told that he had the option to escape execution if he would stop such teaching, he replied, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Thus, he refused a way out, and his fellow Athenians voted for a punishment of death.
There is a ring of truth in Socrates. When we examine our lives rather than merely live them out aimlessly, we are more likely to set and to achieve goals, to find right paths and to avoid wrong ones, and to leave others better off for having known us.
I could not help but think on this as I wrote a few words about the three people whose obituaries are in this issue of the Tribune. All three had lives that bore the marks of having been examined. Their destinations were set, and their goals were clear. Their respective paths, if not easy ones, were well lit by the Word they carried in their hearts. And they left plenty of testaments behind, all lined up and ready to tell their encounter stories.
My own lamplighter in the obituary page this month is Lonnie Smith. I had not been saved long, but I knew I was destined for ministry about six months into my new life. A few months after that, our church’s youth group joined another group from R. D. Wade’s church at Camp Rio Escondido, just a little ways out of Monterrey, Mexico. Our host missionary for the week was Lonnie Smith, Sr. and his family.
Most of the week was a blur. Mornings we spent working a camp project, afternoons we visited surrounding areas distributing flyers and Bibles, and in the evening we helped with evangelistic services. Nights were late and mornings came very early in Mexico, but by week’s end, an examination of my own life revealed that I was not mistaken about God’s call. My own destinations, both ultimate and intermediate, were set. With lamplighters like Lonnie Smith out in front, the path is easy to find and to follow. My great hope is that I may exert a similar influence on others, and that I might have the courage to continually examine myself, and to have a life worth living.
_____________________
Regular readers know this, but the Tribune is about to go on vacation. We publish 11 months each year, omitting June. By delaying publication in May until after Fellowship Week, we close the gap between issues a bit, but this will be the last Tribune until you receive your next one in mid-July. In the meantime, we tune up the computers, install new software, finish up the books for the fiscal year, and take care of some other housecleaning. We also take some time off to gear up for the next volume, which will be our 65th.
See you in July.