Saturday, February 24, 2018
An Easy Fix
You may have heard about the absent-minded professor who
left his ivory tower in the metropolis and set out to vacation in the middle of
the country. Having found the perfect
oasis he enjoyed a few days of rest and then began contemplating his quality of
life. On a whim he decided he would
tackle a long-term issue that was small, but increasingly bothersome, so he
dropped in to see the local doctor.
Upon entering the doctor’s office, he immediately noticed
the simplicity and practicality of the facility – nothing like the elaborate
campus and adjoining hospital where he worked.
He privately congratulated himself for not settling in an
unsophisticated community. Still, he figured
he could at least find out what advice this doctor might have.
When the nurse called the professor’s name, he followed
her into the examination room, removed his jacket and waited impatiently. When the door finally swung open, an elderly
man dressed in comfortable clothes introduced himself. The doctor’s regional twang was prominent
and his manner was humble and unassuming.
The professor suppressed a desire to bolt by reminding himself that this
doctor had come highly recommended and that he was only there for a consult.
“What seems to be yer problem?” queried the physician.
Suddenly the professor heard himself blurting out a
question he had been too embarrassed to ask for years: “Doctor, every time I
drink coffee I get a pain in my right eye.
I think I may be allergic.”
“Is it a twinge or a sharp pain?” asked the doctor.
“A sharp pain,” he answered, gingerly touching his eye.
The doctor thought for a moment, looked at the professor’s
eye and asked, “Do you have this here pain when you drink coffee from a drive-thru?”
“Come to think of it, no. It only hurts when I drink coffee at home or at the office,” the professor answered thoughtfully.
“That’s easy,” drawled the doctor, “take the spoon out of
yer cup,”
The professor had never been so insulted in all of his
life. He had come to this doctor and opened up about a long-term issue only to
have him give a “hick” answer. Grabbing
his jacket, he stormed out of the examination room. All the way back to the hotel he mumbled
about how backward and unlearned the doctor was—proposing such a simple fix for
a life-long problem.
The professor never did take the spoon out of his coffee
cups. He now travels the country giving
lectures on a survey he did on how many Americans felt pain in their eyes when
drinking coffee. The survey and lecture
tour were generously funded by the government.
He now wears a patch over his blind, right eye. I wonder how many major
personal and societal issues could be solved with a easy fix?
Consider these time-proven, easy fixes that a common-sense
counselor (who is just trying to make life work like it is supposed to) might
offer:
Q: How do we keep our marriages
and families from failing apart?
A: Don’t get intimate with
nobody but yer spouse and keep yer hands off ever’body else!
Q: What do we do about violent
crime?
A: Don’t hanker for wuts not
yers and definitely don’t kill nobody—specially your kin.
Q: How do you fix a society that
is so litigious and dishonest?
A: Don’t take nothin’ that ain’t
yers. And, it don’t matter if ever’body n
their dog is breaking them rules—don’t you fall for that nonsense of bending
the rules and calling ever’thing complicated or situational!
I guess a person needs to decide how simple and honest
they are willing to be. Embracing the Ten
Commandments would fix most of the world’s problems, but it appears our “advanced”
world culture is having trouble agreeing on even one of them. It seems that some folks might rather put
their eye out than to do an easy fix.
Friday, February 16, 2018
Mona Lisa Defaced
Suppose
tomorrow’s lead news story read as follows:
“Pandemonium broke out yesterday
afternoon at The Louvre in Paris, France, when a 33 year old aspiring artist disabled
a security guard, shattered the 1.52 inch-thick protective glass, and immediately
began painting a bigger smile on the face of the Mona Lisa! The culprit was
apprehended and jailed, but not before doing incalculable damage. Experts are
not certain that the painting can be restored.”
Can
you imagine the sorrow and outrage?
While some may not care, much of the world would be up in arms,
demanding that the perpetrator be punished to the full extent of the law. The
Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo da Vinci between 1503 and 1506 A.D. It is one
of the most widely recognized paintings in the world. Wikipedia claims that “It holds the Guinness
World Record for the highest known insurance valuation in history at $100
million in 1962, which is worth nearly $800 million in 2017.” To deface such an
invaluable piece of art would be reprehensible indeed.
Most
reasonable people would likely agree that only the creator of such a valuable
masterpiece should have the right to change it.
Even if another more-talented artist should some day be discovered, it
would still not be appropriate for them to “fix” or “improve” upon such a
masterpiece.
You and I are also masterpieces. Moses described our origin like this:
“So
God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them. Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful
and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the
birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.” Then God
said, “Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and
all the fruit trees for your food. And I have given every green plant as food
for all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, and the small animals that
scurry along the ground—everything that has life.” And that is what happened.
Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! And
evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day. (Genesis 1:27-31 NLT)
God
created mankind just the way He wanted them, and then He gave them the
responsibility of overseeing everything that was created. He would eventually
provide a user handbook—more commonly known as The Holy Bible. When mankind tries to reinvent himself or
change the prescribed rules of operation, we should all be appalled. To deface
or devalue mankind is to mar the most beautiful and significant creation of all
time. No other creation was designed to
be at one with the Creator. No other
creation can create, love and forgive like mankind. And no other creation was
built to live forever. We are God’s handiwork.
When
individuals or people groups arbitrarily decide to “redesign” mankind, they
become just as destructive and scandalous as the culprit described at the
beginning of this article. They have no
right. Their actions prove that they
lack wisdom, discretion and taste. A
respectable society would quickly take measures to restrain their destructive
behavior, so that all mankind can enjoy the beauty and integrity of God’s prized
creation. Protect mankind; insist that we hold to the Creator’s original design.
Friday, February 09, 2018
The Little Guys
They are small
and inconspicuous yet incredibly destructive.
Their strength lies in their large numbers, their unity, and the fact
that they work behind the scenes and underground. They topple buildings, destroy valuable artifacts
and devastate properties owned by the rich and the poor alike. They have colonies on almost every continent and
seem willing to demolish property, irrespective of the owner’s race, creed or
political persuasion.
Last year, in
the United States these little guys did an estimated five billion dollars worth
of property damage to over 600,000 homes but there were no resulting arrests or
fines. Perhaps some of their
effectiveness is owed to the fact that they work seven days a week, twenty-four
hours a day. In fact, since they usually
operate in subterranean environments, it is very possible that some of them are
destroying the property in which you reside.
We call these little guys “termites.” There
are over forty species of termites in the United States, and over 2,700 species
throughout the world. Termite queens are believed to live 15-25 years and can
lay an egg every fifteen seconds. A typical home may have three to four termite
colonies around it and they can enter your home through a crack no thicker than
a penny. Those ferocious, insatiable
insects that devour homes, fences, trees and businesses can live in colonies
with as many as one million members. It is estimated that there are one
thousand pounds of termites for every one human being on the planet. Worker
termites search for food up to 250 feet from their colony and one colony of
Formosan termites can eat 1,000 pounds of wood each year.. (preceding facts
taken from http://www.termidorhome.com)
Termites
remind me of some other little guys… little devils. I mean attitudes like division, mistrust,
accusation and suspicion. Or little thoughts and voices like those of doubt,
fear, worry and unbelief. They work underground and behind the scenes. They seem small and relatively harmless, but
if left unchecked they will sink homes, businesses, churches, communities and
nations. Often their damage is not evident until a person or institution begins
leaning to one side or crumbling around the edges.
We would do
well to exterminate those little guys before the damage has been done. At the first sign of negativity, gossip or
slander we should douse the situation with prayer, love and truth. When the slightest whimper of doubt or fear arises
we should seek out sources for worship, faith and inspiration. Like a proactive home owner, it would be wise
to protect against these little guys with daily devotions and weekly worship
services, sprinkled with good books and wholesome fellowship.
The good news
is that there are some other little guys that can be just as impacting—only for
the good. Now I am referring to attitudes
such as gratefulness, kindness, optimism and hope. These attitudes prompt people to be kind,
respectful and trustworthy even when others around them are not. God’s love and
forgiveness are the fountainhead of these little guys. If enough people would
let God love them and then let God’s love flow through them into their immediate
environment, the whole world will be changed. Those good little guys could make
all the difference… those good little guys could restore your country, your
home or your very life.
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