Which One?

Which One?

All who are victorious will be clothed in white. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life.

Revelation 3:5

Having been blessed to publish several Christian books through the years, I am always humbled when someone I meet for the first time recognizes my name. Over time, though, I have also come across another author with my same name. The difference is that she writes much more scholarly books than I do, on such topics as Renaissance England and other historical subjects. (I’m not jealous, though!)

Once in a while, someone will ask me if I wrote one of the other woman’s books. That always makes me smile, and I take it as a great compliment because I know I am not on her intellectual level. And I always wonder how she feels if someone asks her whether she wrote one of mine, such as Polka Dots, Stripes, Humps ’n Hatracks. She probably cringes at the thought and is highly insulted.

A similar thing happened to Dr. John Erskine, an acclaimed educator and author, who once went to give a lecture at the University of Pennsylvania. He traveled to the appointment by train, and the president of the university went to the station to meet him. But he had never actually met Dr. Erskine before, so he did not immediately succeed in finding him.

When the two men had at last identified each other, the university president said, “I asked one gentleman coming off the train if he was Dr. Erskine, and he said emphatically, ‘I should say not!’ Then I asked another gentleman if he was you, and he said, ‘I wish I were.’ That proves that at least one of them has read your books.”

“Yes,” said Erskine, “but which one?”

Religious people around the world expound on a multitude of different theological perspectives, all supposedly based on the Bible. Do you think God ever wonders which ones actually read his Book?

Dear Father, I know that you alone are the Author of life, and I pray that I will spend my life reading your Book and sharing it with others. Amen.