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Apples of Gold
Radio Script for August 27, 2009
“Dear Celia”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
There’s a man at a large wooden desk.
He looks without seeing at the specks of dust floating in the late afternoon sun.
As shadows lengthen across the room, he picks up his old fashioned pen and begins to write.
Dear Celia,
Regarding your last letter, I must reiterate that I want you to beware of being in the company of a young man alone after dark.
Believe me, I understand your enthusiasm. It’s the fall of the leaves, a most romantic time on a college campus, and a wondrous time to share with someone who makes your heart all aflutter.
And I realize that it may seem like you are the “lonely loser” as you put it, the one girl who goes home when the other girls are out alone with young men.
But you must listen to your old father. When you go home, the young men think about you more, not less. You become the mysterious one.
Remember the story I read to you last summer? “Verotchka” by Anton Chekhov. Remember how Vera cast away her “woman’s enhancing inaccessibility.”
This not being alone with a young man after dark, it does not hinder your chances of marriage, as you suppose. It does not “snuff out all opportunities for happiness,” though I appreciate your grand language!
Rather, it capitalizes on your “woman’s enhancing inaccessibility.”
Keeping yourself at arm’s length does not snuff out romance. It stirs it!
I want to share with you a poem by Sara Teasdale. It’s the reverse of your situation, for in the poem it is the young man who stayed at arm’s length. You might think the young lady would have forgotten all about him, but listen to the poem:
Strephon kissed me in the spring,
Robin in the fall,
But Colin only looked at me
And never kissed at all.
Strephon’s kiss was lost in jest,
Robin’s lost in play,
But the kiss in Colin’s eyes
Haunts me night and day.
See? Did Colin remove himself from all desirability by keeping his distance? In fact, quite the opposite occurred. Those other boys’ kisses were forgotten, but one kiss was locked away in her memory: the kiss she never got!
Now you asked me, “Where does the Bible say to not be alone with boys?”
I want to focus on one single letter of the alphabet: s. You wrote “boys” with an s.
Someday I know you want to marry and have a family, and someday you will. And the Bible says, “the two shall become one flesh.”
That day will come, but my dear Celia, do not awaken love before its time. It is not boyS you want to be with, it is one fine young man; and not now, but when it is time. I advise you not to awaken love until its time.
I could quote Second Timothy about fleeing youthful lusts, and I could quote Proverbs about “keeping thy heart with all diligence,” but you know those scriptures better than I. This is not a Bible lesson. This is a letter from your father.
You have become a beautiful young woman, and I believe God has a particular plan for you. And I don’t want you to miss that plan by becoming too quickly involved with a young man. And that means keeping them at arm’s length, and avoiding situations that are too intimate.
And that means not being alone with them after dark.
Please consider this carefully. Walk circumspectly. Shine God’s holy light on the subject, and then make your decision accordingly.
Your mother and I love you very much and look forward to your every letter.
Sincerely,
Dad
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
© 2009 The Arrow’s Tip
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(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)
Why “The Arrow’s Tip”? Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold. Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.” I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.
Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL 32315
(850) 926-8000
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