The call to commitment

by Tami Rudkin
Tuesday, May 13, 2008 7:58 PM MDT

I am already impressed with you. If having read the title to my column this week and you still decided to read on instead of heading for the sports section, then you are valiant indeed.

The word "commitment" and its meaning are not preferred notions these days (we surely don't want to spend our time on anything that may make us feel guilty or convicted).

It's not that people set out to break their commitments; it's just that they haven't set their minds to truly commit. They simply have not decided in earnest to live with a set of values that govern their lives.

They are blown from here to there, depending on the mood of the day or the most compelling argument presented.

Billy Graham was given the following letter written by young man who was breaking up with his girlfriend. He was calling off the relationship because of his devotion to the communist cause.

See if you can remember feeling so passionate about anything in your entire life.

ITAL

"We communists have a high casualty rate. We are the ones who get shot and hung and ridiculed and fired from our jobs ... We live in virtual poverty. We turn back to the party every penny we make above what is absolutely necessary to keep us alive.

We do not have the time or the money for many movies, concerts, T-bone steaks, decent homes or new cars. We've been described as fanatics. We are fanatics. Our lives are dominated by one great, overshadowing factor: the struggle for world communism.

We have a philosophy of life, which no amount of money could buy. We have a cause to fight for, a definite purpose in life. We subordinate our petty personal selves into a great movement of humanity; and if our personal lives seem hard or our egos appear to suffer through subordination to the party, then we are adequately compensated by the thought that each of us, in his small way, is contributing to something new and true and better for mankind.

This one thing in which I am in dead earnest about is the communist cause. It is my life, my business, my religion, my hobby, my sweetheart, my wife, my mistress, my bread and meat.

I work at it in the daytime and dream of it at night. Its hold on me grows, not lessens, as time goes on; therefore, I cannot carry on a friendship, a love affair or even a conversation without relating it to this force, which both drives and guides my life.

I evaluate people, looks, ideas and actions, according to how they affect the communist cause and by their attitude toward it.

I've already been in jail because of my ideals, and if necessary, I'm ready to go before a firing squad."

END ITAL

Wow! The firing squad? That's an impressive sense of commitment!

When was the last time you committed to something with such passion? Have you ever?

I'm going to take a wild guess, but I bet Billy Graham didn't publish this letter to gather people to the communist cause.

Instead, I'm going out on a limb here. Graham probably would challenge us to look at our commitment to God in light of this letter.

Today, I am asking myself some tough questions: Is my life dominated by one person and one cause? Am I a fanatic?

Do I dream of making a difference? Would I give up everything, including my life, to live by my beliefs?

Read this letter one more time, but do it as a Christian. What would happen if we all lived with this kind of commitment?

(Larry and Linda Kloster sponsor this column.)

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