April 8, 2026 - Good Morning! It’s Wednesday, April 8.
On April 8, 1966 - 60 years ago today - Time magazine published an issue that rocked the world. For the first time since Time began (in 1923) there was no picture on the cover - just three words in bold red ink on a black background. The words were, “Is God dead?”
The issue immediately set off a firestorm of controversy. The writers and the editors received death threats. And thousands of pastors referred to it in their next sermon. The cover, and the question, did exactly what Time magazine intended it to do (besides selling a record number of copies). It got people talking and it got them thinking . . . about what they really believed.
In 1966, polls said that 97% of Americans believed that there was a God. When the pollsters asked that question again in 2018, only 63% of us said we did - a remarkable change in just 50 years. So, if one in three Americans today don’t believe, does that call into question God’s very existence? I believe that it speaks, rather, about relationship. If I live my life as if there is no God, then for me, for all intents and purposes, He is dead.
But gospel songwriters Bill and Gloria Gaither had a very different answer to the eternal question, and in 1970 they expressed it in their classic Easter hymn -
Because He lives I can face tomorrow
Because He lives all fear is gone
Because I know He holds the future
My life is worth the living just because He lives!
Meet you back here tomorrow,
David
cindertex50@yahoo.com
