It was a goodly number of years ago when I was honored to be named as a commissioner to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, which was held at Milwaukee, Wis. It might have been the second day of meetings and I just happened to be standing by the free coffee and donut table when a stranger came up to me and asked, "Bressler, is that you in there?" I don't get those kinds of questions too often, so I stared at his name tag and read his name, Don Munzmay. Don and I just happened to have worked together in one of Maas Brothers' stores down in Sarasota, Fla. He didn't look like Don anymore than I supposed I looked like John. After all, age and time do make a difference.
       I have always imagined — and I am not looking for any smarty pants remarks — that I am still the handsome devil-may-care guy I see in the mirror every morning. It is true that age has given me a mane of white hair that glistens and is whipped about in the tropical wind as well as a few wrinkles to accent my twinkling eyes. Other than that, I am still humble and unassuming.
       "Before you were in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born, I consecrated you…" To be sure, we are not a Jeremiah, but don't these same words of God speak to us? We are not an accident in time, a breath of wind, a casual hitch in the great span of life here today and gone tomorrow. Surely, we all have a purpose and our lives have meaning. If not, then we'd better memorize and use the lines from Ecclesiastes, "Vanity of vanities! All is vanity." By the way, the better translation of that line is, "Useless, useless, all is useless."
      I don't know about you folks, but if I read this book through 12:8 and stopped, I would turn out the lights and retire to a very dark corner for a long, long time. In fact, scholars generally agree that had it not been for the fact a redactor added lines 12:9 through 12:14, Ecclesiastes might have been voted out at the meeting of Jamnia around A.D. 90 -100.
       It is sad when we hear people say, "I have no idea why I was born. Life seems to be passing me by and I have nothing to show for it." The utter frustration really expresses itself when we listen to the words, "Why did God make my life so miserable, so unfair, so difficult? Why should someone else win the gold, be given the Oscar, hit the jackpot, have the easy life? God, if you are there, are you listening?"
       God never answers to apologize for the life He gave us. If I need a short and to the point reply, I quickly turn to the Sermon on the Mount and read Matthew 5:13, "You are the salt of the earth...!" In the time of the Bible, salt was a preservative, money and a precious commodity. What Jesus was telling the people in his down-to-earth and very powerful way was, "You can make a difference!" "Who? Me?" Let's just think about this: for those who believe their lives are bland and tasteless, we can be as spice. For those who feel useless, we can be hope. For those who think they are used and forgotten, we can be a catalyst for change.
       We can make a difference!
       Is that you in there? Thank goodness! It is you!