In a particular Chicago tavern you might be served by a Moroccan waiter named Bouch. There's nothing unusual about Bouch, except that he has an ongoing correspondence with the King of Morocco! The King, Mohommed VI, doesn't maintain a distance from his subjects, but interacts with them freely and frequently. He is also known for helping the poor, the diasabled and those suffering injustice. Knowing this Bouch wrote off to his king. To his surprise King Mohommed VI wrote back! In fact he and Bouch have exchanged a number of letters.
"Look at the letters," said Bouch to a reporter. "These are letters from the King. If I meet him, I'll be so happy."
Bouch's story was written up in the Chicago Tribune. John Kass, the columnist, talked to the Moroccan deputy consul general in Chicago and discovered it wasn't at all unusual for the King to write personal letters to his subjects who were abroad. "It happens a lot" said the official/ "He loves his subjects."
Nevertheless, we might still join John Kass in wondering , "How many guys hauling beer and burgers in a Chicago tavern have a correspondence going with a royal monarch?"
Application: communication with God, prayer, bible reading, God's voice, God's word, access to God, devotional life. Of course, we Christians could all raise our hands. Whenever we pray we correspond with the King of creation. Whenever we hear God's word to us in Scripture we receive his letters to us.
Application: life after death, eschatology, second coming. Bouch and us Christians both have two things in common: (1) we currently correspond with a King who loves us, without meeting him face to face; (2) we both hope that one day we'll meet our King face to face. For Bouch it may or may not happen. For believers it's the King's promise.
Source: Reported by John Kass, "Waiter's pen pal just cool guy who runs
a country"
Chicago Tribune, Jul 23, 2001