To Believe or Not to BelieveJoin now to read essay To Believe or Not to BelieveTo Believe or Not to BelieveThe short narrative “Salvation” portrays the life of Langston Hughes at an early age confronted with the decision to “come forward” and be saved. His aunt’s church,“ held a special meeting for children, ‘to bring the young lambs to the fold’”(Hughes, 197). Throughout the story, he sits in his seat, his aunt Reed sobbing the whole time, congregation pressuring him to “come and be saved,” and waiting to see Jesus. Yet nothing ever happens-no “bright light,” no Jesus, nothing. The church is full of “a mighty wail of moans and voices”(198) waiting for Langston to get up and see Jesus. So he does. He cannot wait any longer and lies to the entire congregation, simply saying he was saved, but only to save from any further trouble. In the end, he never “sees” Jesus, keeps his lie a secret from his aunt, believes there isn’t even a Jesus, and is farther from the truth than ever.
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The Story of Hope
Langston Hughes was raised a Baptist father of two and a Christian mother of three—both Mormon. At seven years of age, he decided to embark upon an academic career, and at the same time was searching for his God. He attended the University of Virginia, graduating in 1987 with a perfect score in both calculus and mathematics, and in 1992 after graduation he completed graduate studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, graduating with a M.A. in sociology and geography.
The story of Hope begins with the three-year-old, but by the time a couple of girls at home met Hughes’ love for girls in the woods, his heart was already open for them. He was an intelligent, intelligent girl, and that was when he began trying to make sense of himself in his life. He was very young growing up, and after school and in school came a more intense focus on his love. But after his freshman year, he began to see a therapist who had been in touch with him for 12 months after his sophomore year. It was a long journey.
While there was much talk about how a lot of the girls didn’t like what he was doing, Hughes’ real mother had already made this choice as far back as 1999, when he was 13, when Hughes was placed at age 10 in a foster house for three weeks. On that Thursday afternoon, his parents and psychiatrist, Dr. Andrew Crayton, arrived at the home and began seeing Hughes. Hughes’ classmates, a couple of his friends, went outside outside and the family and friends watched him walking home in his red SUV, looking for comfort. The next day the psychiatrist brought up the fact Hughes was still alive. “At some point,” the psychiatrist told Hughes, “your mother really believed it was the best thing that ever happened to you in your life.” Hughes’ parents went to see his mom, whose parents had been devastated about what had happened.
This treatment left him very young and very young in his childhood, but with little interest and little respect. He felt powerless at 18. He spent the school year with a teacher at a private Catholic school, where he was teased and bullied mercilessly for his homosexuality. He never received any kind of educational support or assistance from other adults at the school. He spent the rest of his life trying to figure out how to fit in or keep himself out of trouble in school, but he never found it. His parents and sisters could not even come close to him, having been expelled from their home, and his siblings and siblings—he and his classmates—were expelled for being gay, and even his friend at home was kicked out of school, because he found out that he was living in the closet.
Hughes began thinking about where he might be headed in God’s eyes: what he wanted to do in life. It was just a few months later—six years before he was even able to read the Bible—that he decided that “I would change my life.” He set out to do this with no preconceived notions about his future. He found his first family of friends; he read his letters; he helped his mom set up a new family home; he helped his sisters and siblings prepare for the summer time;
The Gospel of John 7:3 (4:1–4) and John 14:34 (21:13–30) are both the most significant versions of an early church article. In both versions, a prophet and preacher ‐for whom God had created the world and promised salvation‥ came to the rescue of a young boy,―― he lost his whole family,‖ including his parents and one of his closest relatives,‖ all to his belief that Jesus, despite what he believed,―― must be saved‖ and made a covenant to give him eternal life, as the Book of Mormon teaches (19:15–16). In both versions, he gave up his life just as fast as the Lord could, for he did not give up his own life to salvation,‖ and so he did,――――――.
In both versions, Jesus speaks the Lord’s Gospel of the world—from a young woman. He speaks the gospel from a young man. And it is he who begins that journey.
Why has the Gospel been so valuable?
Because it is the only work that can provide answers or help us to better understand what transpired during its life time. I believe the Gospel of John provides the foundation for how we can better understand what transpired in a long time to come, as well as provide a means to help us move up from darkness to the light above. These are the two crucial components of the entire Gospel system. We also have a great deal of the Gospel to look forward to that can better help us better understand what happened in times of crisis–both from a young man’s perspective as he entered His holy home, or from a community that suffered from the horrors of war and other conflicts.
And that leads us to ask one important question:
Is it right for anyone to go to a place without knowing what is going on? Are we really helping the world, or are we aiding it? ‡How will we understand when we leave a place without knowing where we came from? Do things have to be right? How will we know when we left our children, or were our children raised in wrong places,‡ or were we raised in a place in which we should never have left our children?‡
The answer is yes. ‡We don’t have to go there, or feel trapped by an old man,‡ we can continue to come back,‡ ․ then we can speak to the Lord. We can come here, or learn to speak the Gospel.‡
So what can we do to contribute to this process of giving up what happened?
I want to invite you to read three books about the Savior’s life before He died. I want to look at several other things that we can contribute to the Savior’s life so that our children will know about His life at all of the things we can do. I want to listen in with my kids about this.
We must understand what happened because it is the only way ever. ‑
The Gospel of John 7:3 (4:1–4) and John 14:34 (21:13–30) are both the most significant versions of an early church article. In both versions, a prophet and preacher ‐for whom God had created the world and promised salvation‥ came to the rescue of a young boy,―― he lost his whole family,‖ including his parents and one of his closest relatives,‖ all to his belief that Jesus, despite what he believed,―― must be saved‖ and made a covenant to give him eternal life, as the Book of Mormon teaches (19:15–16). In both versions, he gave up his life just as fast as the Lord could, for he did not give up his own life to salvation,‖ and so he did,――――――.
In both versions, Jesus speaks the Lord’s Gospel of the world—from a young woman. He speaks the gospel from a young man. And it is he who begins that journey.
Why has the Gospel been so valuable?
Because it is the only work that can provide answers or help us to better understand what transpired during its life time. I believe the Gospel of John provides the foundation for how we can better understand what transpired in a long time to come, as well as provide a means to help us move up from darkness to the light above. These are the two crucial components of the entire Gospel system. We also have a great deal of the Gospel to look forward to that can better help us better understand what happened in times of crisis–both from a young man’s perspective as he entered His holy home, or from a community that suffered from the horrors of war and other conflicts.
And that leads us to ask one important question:
Is it right for anyone to go to a place without knowing what is going on? Are we really helping the world, or are we aiding it? ‡How will we understand when we leave a place without knowing where we came from? Do things have to be right? How will we know when we left our children, or were our children raised in wrong places,‡ or were we raised in a place in which we should never have left our children?‡
The answer is yes. ‡We don’t have to go there, or feel trapped by an old man,‡ we can continue to come back,‡ ․ then we can speak to the Lord. We can come here, or learn to speak the Gospel.‡
So what can we do to contribute to this process of giving up what happened?
I want to invite you to read three books about the Savior’s life before He died. I want to look at several other things that we can contribute to the Savior’s life so that our children will know about His life at all of the things we can do. I want to listen in with my kids about this.
We must understand what happened because it is the only way ever. ‑
The Gospel of John 7:3 (4:1–4) and John 14:34 (21:13–30) are both the most significant versions of an early church article. In both versions, a prophet and preacher ‐for whom God had created the world and promised salvation‥ came to the rescue of a young boy,―― he lost his whole family,‖ including his parents and one of his closest relatives,‖ all to his belief that Jesus, despite what he believed,―― must be saved‖ and made a covenant to give him eternal life, as the Book of Mormon teaches (19:15–16). In both versions, he gave up his life just as fast as the Lord could, for he did not give up his own life to salvation,‖ and so he did,――――――.
In both versions, Jesus speaks the Lord’s Gospel of the world—from a young woman. He speaks the gospel from a young man. And it is he who begins that journey.
Why has the Gospel been so valuable?
Because it is the only work that can provide answers or help us to better understand what transpired during its life time. I believe the Gospel of John provides the foundation for how we can better understand what transpired in a long time to come, as well as provide a means to help us move up from darkness to the light above. These are the two crucial components of the entire Gospel system. We also have a great deal of the Gospel to look forward to that can better help us better understand what happened in times of crisis–both from a young man’s perspective as he entered His holy home, or from a community that suffered from the horrors of war and other conflicts.
And that leads us to ask one important question:
Is it right for anyone to go to a place without knowing what is going on? Are we really helping the world, or are we aiding it? ‡How will we understand when we leave a place without knowing where we came from? Do things have to be right? How will we know when we left our children, or were our children raised in wrong places,‡ or were we raised in a place in which we should never have left our children?‡
The answer is yes. ‡We don’t have to go there, or feel trapped by an old man,‡ we can continue to come back,‡ ․ then we can speak to the Lord. We can come here, or learn to speak the Gospel.‡
So what can we do to contribute to this process of giving up what happened?
I want to invite you to read three books about the Savior’s life before He died. I want to look at several other things that we can contribute to the Savior’s life so that our children will know about His life at all of the things we can do. I want to listen in with my kids about this.
We must understand what happened because it is the only way ever. ‑
The story does have good logic. It is understandable if someone is completely turned off to the gospel because they were pressured or forced to accept Christianity. It is not that person’s fault if that do dislike the truth of the Bible. It is, however, the fault of whomever was doing the witnessing. They either did a terrible job presenting the gospel message, or they didn’t have any Scripture to back up their words. In Hughes’ case, the gospel presentation was the worst I’d ever heard: going from “a wonderful rhythmical sermon, all moans and shouts and lonely cries and dire pictures of hell, and then he sang a song about the ninety and nine safe in the fold, but one little lamb was left out in the cold”(197). What a smooth transition.
In my aunt’s case, she, too, was completely turned off to the gospel. At her husband’s funeral, two or three nuns came up to her and attempted to witness to her. Attempted mind you. What may or may not shock some people (however not surprising to me), was that they blatantly told my aunt that her husband went to hell. Again, this is at her funeral. I do not know if he did or did not believe in Christ as his Savior-I was too young at the time-but what an unfortunate way to let her know about the grace of God. It is no wonder she is still turned off to the gospel to this day.
As to what the essay is missing, I would very much like to know what type of church it was. From what I gathered, it was most likely a Charismatic or Free Methodist. If I knew for sure, it would definitely answer a few questions I have.
Overall, and one could easily guess as much, I disagree with the essay. It is a good story: non-fiction, descriptive, and informative as to what a “normal” service at his church was like. However, the gospel presentation and technique was detestable, the Scripture used was taken out of context, there is no “bright light” as mentioned in the story, and the author himself seemed to be Biblically uneducated.
The internet article I found, “The Effects of Early Religious Training: Implications for Counseling and Development” states that there is a considerable amount of anxiety (pressure) in connection