Eric and Erich

Eric and Erich

     “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.

     “And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores.

     “The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.

     “And he called out 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.'

     “But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.

Luke 16:19-23

     Hello. My name is Sam. I am a very simple man. I don't know very much about life, but there are three things I know for certain: (1) that there is a good force in the world and a bad force, (2) that there are many choices to be made in life, and (3) that there are two different destinies we all will arrive at one day.

     I once knew two very different individuals, both odd fellows, and both named Eric. Well, one was actually named Erich.

     Eric was strong, confident, romantic, and a highly polished individual. He was intelligent and extremely good-looking. He was quite a smash with the ladies, too, as you'd might imagine. He seemed to have just about everything going for him - a promising future, a big salary, and many affluent friends. There was something rather troubling about him, though.  He lacked the warmth and simplicity that characterize most people who believe in God. He, himself, had no belief in God or in anything higher than himself for that matter.  

     Even though he didn't believe in God, he wasn't entirely without the love that resides, at least in some measure, in all of God's creatures. He was often kind to people he considered less charming, stalwart, or confident as he. His kindness was usually expressed in a spirit of condescension, though. Secretly he was glad of the fact that he was "better" than most people. All things being equal, there was something rather cryptic about him, and any discerning soul could see that he wasn’t much more than some kind of dark mystery.  

     I worked with Eric and would often get into long, meaningful conversations with him about God, about the meaning of life, and about the nature of truth. He seemed very open-minded and inquisitive. But in reality, there wasn't a thing in the world that would cause him to change his views about God, or about the way he lived his life. At least he would reason his way out of every good reason to have faith. I could prove to him beyond a shadow of a doubt that God was real and that the way God defined reality mattered, but still he would remain unchanged. All he cared about was becoming the best version of himself he could be. He wanted nothing to do with the Christian God who saves weak people. No, not even for all the gold in Paradise would he forsake his ego.

     I attend a church that is located some twenty miles south of the town where I live. I have been going there ever since I was a young child. I used to take a rather homely fellow there, a man named Erich. I would pick him up at his apartment and we would make the twenty mile drive south. You could say that Erich was on the bottom rung of what you call “social darwinism.” He rarely bathed, he didn't take care of himself or respect himself as he should, and he had all types of nasty vices. The American dream, to him, was nothing more than a distant mirage he knew he'd never attain. His life was going practically nowhere. But in reality, he was a good soul deep down inside. Love resided in the deepest recesses of his being. He also believed in the existence of a good, eternally loving God.  

     One day he asked me, “Could you please pray for me, Sam? I have a lot of problems.” How could I ignore such a plea? I prayed for him, and as I prayed, I felt God gently speak to my heart, “Erich is indeed your Christian brother. Love and care for him as you should.”

     One day, both Eric and Erich happened to be shopping in the same convenience store, when some mentally deranged person walked in with a pistol and started picking people off. Eric and Erich were among several murdered that day.

     I remember reading about this incident in the next day's paper and my heart nearly sank through the floor. I knew both of these men and had spent a good deal of time with both of them. Now they were both gone... forever! I began to weep bitterly. Many thoughts filled my mind. I thought about the frailty of human life and about how we will all one day leave this earthly realm. I thought about the destiny of humankind and about each individual human destiny. I thought about the good force in the world and the bad force in the world. I thought about the things this world considers good and the things that God considers good. I thought about the measuring stick we all use to judge one another with, and about how wrongly we use it. I surmised that, according to the world’s standard of measuring things, Eric was living in the energy of the good force while Erich was living in the energy of the bad. But then I considered things a little more deeply and realized, that according to God’s standard of measurement, it was the other way around . The last thing I considered was that it is the energy which drives a human life that determines its destiny.

Let us think twice before we sell our souls to gain the world.