Email from Pete to Charlie:
Hi, Charlie,
I hope that this email finds you well. I have to let you know
that this is the last time I will be staying in a place like this,
This time I really have learned my lesson, and with the help of the
Lord, I will find the strength in me to stay true to the path of
righteousness, and follow the one true Word.
Yes, Charlie, I have found the Truth – our one Lord, Jesus
Christ! I will leave behind me my illicit deeds and embrace my
Christian brethren as my new family. “He summons the heavens
above, and the earth, that he may judge his people”. I have
been judged, Charlie, and I have been found wanting.
What can I do about it? Well. I can’t carry on the way I
was, that’s for sure. I have found a friend in the Pastor
here, and he has taught me that it is never too late to take God
into your heart. He has taught me the wonder and greatness of the
Lord: “The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the
Lord is majestic”. I have been shown a way now that I can
make up for what I have done. I must repent of my sins, and throw
myself on the mercy of the Lord, for “I am like an olive tree
flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God's unfailing love
for ever and ever.”
I know I have let everyone down, Charlie, but most of all
myself. I started out life with great hopes, and look where my
choices have led me. I know it is never possible to completely
erase the harm I have done, but at least trying to do some good
will give me some solace: “I will both lay me down in peace,
and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in
safety”.
But enough of this navel-gazing, this is a time to rejoice! I am
on the road to redemption. Is that not a great thing? “To the
Lord I cry aloud, and he answers me from his holy hill!” I am
saved, Charlie!
The trouble is, as you and I both know, this isn’t the
first time I have had the scales stripped from my eyes, now is it,
Charlie? I know what you’ll be thinking – “Here
we go again!” Well, I can’t say you’re wrong, and
I can’t say you’re right. The biggest problem in here
though is my fellows. They’re a pretty unholy lot, and
keeping the faith alive in this grim, inhuman hell-hole would try
the most masochistic of saints. But I must try: “Hide me from
the conspiracy of the wicked, from that noisy crowd of
evildoers”, as it says in the good book.
I’ll let you know how I get on, Charlie!
Your friend and faithful servant
Peter