I have received much spiritual truth — from parents, from friends, from teachers, from preachers, from writers, from the Bible itself.

I have received a rich spiritual heritage. And I am leaving a (rich?) spiritual heritage.

The parenthetical question means I’m wondering whether I’ve let anything slip. (Maybe I should say what instead of whether!)

The heritage I’m leaving — does it represent slippage? Or have I enriched it further?

“Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip” (Hebrews 2:1).

God help me to hang on to those things . . . and to add to them.

I would be interested in listening to a Cabinet secretary (Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld or Secretary of State Rice, for examples) speak for the President of the United States. I mean, I would like to be there personally to hear the Presidential representative speak. That, I think, would be neat. And if they would have a special message for me personally, that would be way more than neat.

But what if I could hear the President himself, live and in person? And what if he would have a personal message for me? That would be electrifying. (I suppose.)

What, then, would I call this next reality?

“[God] Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds” (Hebrews 1:2).

I could say it is truly awesome and awe inspiring.

But does it really mean that to me?

Am I genuinely interested in listening to what He has to say?

I want my answer to those last two questions to be a simple, sincere, life-changing, “Yes!”