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Who's Friendly to Elders?
Warning: If you are a senior citizen, the gambling industry is tar get ing you. ("Gambling Away the Golden Years," May 24). Too bad many of today's churches can't be accused similarly. In stead, "up-to-date" churches are be coming increasingly inhospitable to older people as they target those younger. They are eliminating much that is meaningful, familiar, and loved by older people—hymnals, choirs, organs, and so on. Meanwhile, the casinos are concentrating on being elder friendly (and parting elders from their money in the process).

Eulea Tharp
Blue Springs, Miss.

* Casting social problems as moral issues requires more than pontificating. The former requires changes in public policy; the latter must start with theological reflection. One would think that Mr. Kennedy could come up with even one Scripture reference to support his views.

Dr. Charles C. Moody
Phoenix, Ariz.

Readers wanting CT's theological argument against gambling should consult "Feeding the Monster Called More," by David Neff and Thomas Giles (CT, Nov. 25, 1991, p. 18).
—Eds.

The reported inaction of Christian churches to the incredible spread of legalized gambling is appalling. I am a highly satisfied resident of John Knox Village in Lee's Summit, Missouri, and while I personally consider facilitated trips to casinos unfortunate and undesirable, I must take issue with Michael Maudlin's reference ("Inside CT") about John Knox Village running buses to casinos "three times weekly." The number is more like two buses monthly. The bus rides are neither free nor "run" by the village. With approximately 1,500 independent residents, the situation is not as shocking as implied in CT.

Harriet A. Buttry
Lee's Summit, Miss.

God's Good Grace
* James Van Tholen's sermon "Surprised by Death" [May 24] is among the most powerful and moving I have ever heard or read. Thank you for printing what will become, for me, a classic. My eyes are filled with tears each time I read it, be cause sickness and death are so awful—and because God's grace is so good.

Rev. Gary Wall
Lodi, Calif.

* I too (as a pastor retired after 50-plus years) live with a "cancer on vacation." My experience is that my life of faith and love (for God, the church, and my wife) has deepened unbelievably. One thing that concerns me is Van Tholen's constant use of the word grace. I have found that the public, and even the majority of Christians, do not have a clear concept of what the word means. Someone has said, "Never use the word grace in the pulpit unless it is thoroughly explained." Since grace is a Latin word, how does Van Tholen put some "English" meaning into it to help him find help in his remaining years?

Pastor Ted Hegg
Federal Way, Wash.

* I am a 45-year-old pastor who has just been diagnosed with prostate cancer. While Van Tholen knows his time is short, my prognosis with the stage of my disease, is uncertainty. But my prayer is that my people will see in me the same courage and confidence that this pastor has displayed.

Pastor Kevin D. Zuber
Mishawaka, Ind.

"Tragic Moral Choice"
We do have trouble with defining "lying" and "truth telling" ["Is Lying Always Wrong?" Directions, May 24]. And we should. In one sense, every rebellion against God is a lie in that it denies his sovereignty, but there are those times when we are faced with what ethicist John Carnell called a Tragic Moral Choice—for example, the intruder who holds a gun to your baby's head and says, "If you don't let me rape your wife, I'll kill your baby."

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July 12 1999, Vol. 43, No. 8