Dear Phyllis,
This is really bad. I’m supposed to be working but your
letter just came a few minutes ago and I feel so compelled to respond that I am
cheating on NLL to take a few minutes out of their time to write you. We have a
prayer meeting tonight and if I don’t answer now it will be a day or two before
I can get to it again.
You would be embarrassed if I told you how much I admire you
and what mean to me. My world is extremely small. I can count on the fingers of
one hand the number of people that write to me these days. The Bill Cook Fan
Club has got to be one of the smallest in the world, but it is a very unusual
event to receive such encouragement as you have sent me. I seriously doubt that
my little thesis will get much further circulation than our small circle of
friends, but if there is anything in it that can help anyone, then we must take
our hats off, bow our heads, and worship God who uses foolish things.
You said Ted is failing. May I suggest you are wrong? I
believe he is making very good progress on the last lap of his journey here.
What a blessed position! Have you ever climbed Mt.Asama? There are several
approaches. The most common one is from Mene no ochaya – the Karuizawa side;
and that is very similar to climbing Mt Fuji. It is just a steady walk up hill
on volcanic ash. But the Komoro face is more interesting. You can get a long
ways up there by car; then for the next hour or two it is a lovely walk through
a beautiful canyon. You would never believe where you are. When you come out of
the east side of this canyon you are in a saddleback between Asama and the two
hills on the west side. There is a sulfur spring there and very shortly you are
in a different world. Suddenly you are very near the top of Asama but it is a real
killer from there up. Each time I have gone up that face I have vowed I would
never do it again. What in the world am I doing here? My mother would be very
disappointed if she knew she raised such a foolish son. At best all I could do
was take about three or four steps and pant while I waited for my legs to catch
up. They don’t make stairs as hard to climb as that steep slope. But there is
one thing about it. It might be hard work but you make an awful lot faster
progress going vertically. The pain is pretty intense but the progress is
rewarding and it isn’t long before you are standing on the summit. When you
stand on the top you wonder, what was all the fuss about twenty minutes ago?
Man that was a good short cut!
Dear Phyllis, I don’t mean to belittle the terrible trauma
you are going through. I can only speculate how heart-wrenching it must be to
watch a man that has been so active for so many years go down. Your life is so
intimately tied together that it is even harder on you than it is on him. But
we all know in our hearts where we are and we know we are watching Ted near the
summit. Praise God!
My mother was the greatest miracle I have ever seen in my
life. It would take a very large book to describe that one and I will let the
Lord tell that story later. But to skip the first thirty chapters and just read
the last page – her funeral was one of he highlights of my life. The Lord took
me back 40 years when I was first saved and everyone was bewildered and
concerned. What in the world kind of religion had I gotten into? I kicked the
daylights out of our old family Methodist church and called them a bunch of
liars to call themselves by the name of Wesley but deny his message. For years
my prayers were an insult to God. Such heartless lip-service can hardly be
called prayer. In my wildest imagination in those days I never could have
envisioned what I was looking at in that church when we celebrated my mothers
coronation. She was fantastic! It was like being at the Olympics and watching
someone stand on the box to receive a gold medal. Everyone in the room was
saved and all rejoicing in the translation of my mother. She was on a dead
sprint all the way to the wire. What a finish!
Ted has run well. Don Hoke shook me to the core one day when
he expressed his concern when I shared with him what I was thinking about for
the future. He said, “Many start well but FEW RUN
WELL TO THE END.” Those sobering words made
a deep impact on that young man. We have all watched heart-breaking lives
falling by the way. But Ted has stayed on his feet and did exceptionally well.
Thank God! And as he nears the wire we can cheer him on, and the Lord Himself
will take over from here. There isn’t much chance for failure. It is highly
unlikely that Ted will be unfaithful to you and run off with another woman. His
heart really can’t swerve from the road too much – just a Gladys Henry can’t go
into JWs at this point. The Lord has preserved the record of what has been
accomplished and the rest is assured.
At my son, TJ’s, funeral I started my remarks by sharing the
story of John and Betty Stamm and what the Lord said to their brother Harry in Africa .
Then I said, “The Lord has given me three sons; one is safe – the other two I
am concerned about.” Praise God Ted is safe now from veering from the way. He
is making progress nearing the summit and that should be an encouragement.
Gomen, Phyllis, but you are special and we all need you to
stay with us for a few more minutes to help us drag our feet in Ted’s
footsteps. You get a chance to have a double ministry. You can help Ted get to
the top and then you can reach down and help some of us to come along.
With much love and prayers in
Jesus, bill
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