Tuesday, January 4th, 2022. 5:33 PM.
Somebody Loves You
Maybe Mark was thinking of Phoebe on the 3rd day of January 2022. He was sitting in the green Boston rocker that had been his mother’s decades ago. She owned the chair while she was still living on Sweet Avenue where she had 7 children with her husband. She had lived there since 1934 or ‘38 when she was 4 or 8 years old, she told him later in life. Mark was wondering what he should do about the 2 letters and two cards he’d written to Phoebe – plus one gospel tract titled: “Somebody Loves You” –which he’d written to Phoebe [since about February 2020 – almost two years ago – he privately wrote to her and kept the writing – sensing that she wasn’t at all interested in such a one so much older than she]. He was imagining walking into the general store as usual when he needed some food; and then at the cash register, saying to Phoebe:
Mark: “Phoebe, I have some letters and cards that I’ve written to you over the last almost two years. May I give them to you?”
Phoebe: “Why have you been writing letters and cards to me, Mark?”
Mark: “Well, just today, I wrote something to you on the back of a gospel tract that answers that very question, briefly and simply and honestly – and it’s right here in this food storage bag along with some other things I wrote to you.”
Phoebe: “What exactly did you write, Mark?”
So Mark takes the clear plastic food storage bag containing all his letters and cards out of his winter coat pocket; and without having to remove the contents from the bag, he begins to read what he wrote on the back of that gospel tract: “Dear Phoebe, I want to be in love because God is love and I believe in God. Mark David Richer.”
Phoebe: “Mark, are you Forrest Gump’s younger brother or something!?”
Mark: “Well, I did see that movie many years ago. And I’ve watched excerpts of it on YouTube once in a while. It’s a real heart-toucher of a movie. It makes me feel like crying.”
Phoebe: “Does that movie touch your heart, Mark?”
Mark: “Yes, it does. And many songs and hymns also touch my heart.”
Phoebe: “Do I touch your heart, Mark?”
Mark: “Yes.”
Phoebe: “How so?”
Mark: “I believe it is your appearance and your presence – your face and your eyes and your complexion and your personality – and your spirit. And the way you say not a word to me when I see you outside and say Hi to you and you say nothing.”
Phoebe: “That touches your heart, Mark? Why?”
Mark: “Yes. And maybe this has something to do with Why.” “Do not let your adorning be external – the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear – but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.” -1 Peter 3:3, 4. ESV Study Bible.
Phoebe: “You may give your letters to me, Mark.”
Mark: “Thank you, Phoebe.” So, Mark places the plastic food storage bag containing his letters and cards and the tract into Phoebe’s open hand. Phoebe reads the handwritten words Mark just read to her from the back of the gospel tract – which has a red cover covered with hearts – like a Valentine card. Then she turns over the package of letters and reads the front of a white envelope: “Phoebe . . . . . . . . Sincerely Mark.” And just to the right of Phoebe’s first name is an open square in the envelope. And inside the cut-out square is a Forever postage stamp of an artist’s painting of a young woman taking a watermelon from a farmer at a country fair.
Phoebe: “Thank you, Mark. I will read what you have written to me.”
Mark: “Thank you, Phoebe. And there may be more reasons why my heart and mind are touched over you, Phoebe.”
Phoebe: “What other reasons, Mark?”
Mark: “Reasons that I don’t even know. Like in a mystery, where the reasons are unknown – until they are revealed.” Spiritual reasons that only God knows and which He may reveal at His own pleasure according to His divine will for the unfolding of His plan of salvation and the Second Coming of His Christ in glory concerning the kingdom of God and eventually the regeneration of all things in glorious renewal of the heavens and the earth in righteousness.
“But, as it is written, ‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him – these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.” -1 Corinthians 2:9, 10. ESV Study Bible.
“Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness:
“He was manifested in the flesh,
Vindicated by the Spirit,
Seen by angels,
Proclaimed among the nations,
Believed on in the world,
Taken up in glory.” -1 Timothy 3:16. ESV Study Bible.
God Moves in A Mysterious Way with Lyrics
Somebody Loves You
1994 – Forrest Gump – Forrest talks to Jenny’s grave
The best scene of Forrest Gump
“What Is a Broken Heart, Anyway?”
Amazing Grace (Hymn)
Phoebe: “Mark, did that rendition of Amazing Grace make you feel like crying?”
Mark: “Yes, Phoebe. It did.”
Phoebe: “And what if being in love with me also makes you feel like that?”
Mark: “There is something very sweet in feeling like crying when there is love. A phrase comes to mind about that experience of feeling like crying: “the agony and the ecstasy.”
Peter, Paul and Mary – Wedding Song “There is Love” (25th Anniversary Concert)
Phoebe: “Mark, if you come into the store — I don’t know what I will do; maybe, I’ll just walk away from the register. I may feel very uncomfortable.”
Mark: “And I don’t know what I will do either. I don’t know if the Lord will have me bring those letters and cards into the store, or not. I’m only living one day at a time – not knowing anything; but just trusting in Him every moment.”
God Will Make a Way (with lyrics) – Don Moen
Don Moen – God Will Make A Way (Lyrics)
God Will Make A Way – Don Moen Religious Song Lyrics
Phoebe: “Mark, what are you going to do now?”
Mark: “I’m thinking of going to take a nap now – at 9:05 AM on Tuesday, January 4, 2022.”
Phoebe: “And then, what?”
Mark: “Well, I don’t know; maybe I’ll publish this letter afterwards; or, perhaps more words will be added to what is already written . . . . . . . In fact, that is what happened. I lay down for a while; but did not sleep. More thoughts about this letter came to me as I lay down on the bed. Finally, I got up and made a second cup of tea; and had some cereal with powdered milk; and then sat down again and added more to what was already written, above. It is now 12:35 PM on Tuesday, January 4, 2022.”
Phoebe: “Mark, are you going to give your letters and cards to me?”
Mark: “Perhaps, if you were to encourage me to do so, I would.”
Phoebe: “And how could I give this encouragement to you?”
Mark: “Well, let us imagine for a moment that we are at the store; and I’m placing my items to be purchased on the counter; and you were to say to me, “Mark, may I see those letters and cards and that gospel tract that you’ve written on the back of to me?” Then, maybe, I would have them in my winter coat pocket and just take them out and hand them to you. And then you could take them home with you and read them at your leisure as you enjoy your own cup of tea.”
Phoebe: “Well, Mark that just may be “my cup of tea” – to read your “sweet nothings” to me at my lovely lady’s leisure.”
Mark: “And maybe it would be my “cup of tea” Phoebe to imagine you at home reading my letters to you as I’m at home with my tea.”
Phoebe: “Do you add honey to your cup of tea, Mark?”
Mark: “Once in a while, I do; other times, I use granulated sugar.”
Phoebe: “And why is that?”
Mark: “Certain foods give me an itchy back. Sometimes, I wonder if honey is one of them; and just yesterday, after I started using a certain brand of margarine again, that itchiness returned after being gone for weeks [during those weeks, I was not using that brand of margarine].”
Phoebe: “Maybe you need a “back scratcher” Mark – along with a walker and someone to talk with you; and, maybe someone to have tea with, too.”
Mark: “Maybe I do, Phoebe.”
Phoebe: “Do you believe you’re young enough, Mark for all the excitement that would bring into your life at 70 years old?”
Mark: “If it be God’s will then He will surely make me able.”
Phoebe: “Well then, let’s just wait on the Lord and see what He has in store for us, Maybe Mark.”
Mark: “Amen.”
Lilies of the Field – Amen
It is written:
“I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.
As a lily among brambles, so is my love among the young women.” Song of Solomon 2:1, 2. ESV Study Bible.
The Rose
The Rose – by Bette Midler + lyrics
By the Rivers of Babylon ( with lyrics)
Shenandoah – Peter Hollens (A Cappella)
The Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond – Ella Roberts
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.’” -Revelation 21:1-4. ESV Study Bible.
Revelation 21-22 ESV.
God’s Way Of Salvation (John 3:16)
Mark's Imaginings 