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OUR GREAT UNDERTAKING "So live," wrote Mark Twain, "that when you come to die even undertaker will be sorry." Life was made for living and giving Life was made for sharing and caring Life was made for love not lust Life was made for faith and trust Life was made for words sublime Life was made for the upward climb Let's not view life too gravely Rather, let us make life to be... Our great undertaking
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DOWN THE DRAIN When our children were younger, they would, on occasion, go to the kitchen sink and wash the sand and dirt off their prized marbles. Inevitably, two or three of those roundies would slip out of their tiny hands and click together at the bottom of the curve of the drain pipe. Without getting too philosophical, might we not draw some parallels between this innocent childish incident and our own occasional feelings about losing our grip on our life's marbles, watching them bounce aimlessly over the precipice of the drain of our fret and strain. Fortunately, we have been given the Gospel of Hope. Without it, we would be as St. Paul stated, "the most miserable of creatures." The Gospel of Jesus Christ equips us with the best tools available to extricate ourselves from the drain pipes in which we often find ourselves lodged. The Gospel is able to set any of us free, even from the dirtiest and deepest of drains (By the way, does anybody have a pipe wrench we could borrow for a couple of hours?) (This article was written in 1977 when our children were really young.) HIGHWAY 77 Many years ago, somewhere around midnight of the thirty-first of December, Donna and I some- how meandered off of route 76 onto a new highway ...route 77. (Highway 77 is a north-south highway that extends from Sioux City, Iowa to Brownsville Texas). The snow was descending softly all around us. Yes, indeed, it was a dark and stormy night. We probably wouldn't have noticed any significant difference between the old 76 and our new 77 passageway, except for the fact that we had the occasion to pickup a young couple with a new born babe in arms. They informed us that we were now traveling on a brand new highway. Their names have long been forgotten, but we felt warm that we could offer them some assistance. The scene reminded us of a young couple with a new born babe centuries ago travelling on roads unsure and out of place not knowing what their future might hold or where they might eventually wind up. And so it is with all of us, as it always has been. HANGMAN Unlike my twelve grandchildren who are highly adroit electronic game players, our games are pretty much limited to Mahjong, Minesweeper, and Hangman. We do fairly well in Mahjong, haven't beaten Minesweeper in ages, and occasionally win a game of Hangman. If you don't mind we'll allow ourselves a little rope here and see if we can hang ourselves (figuratively, of course). It has been said many times, that if you give a man enough rope, he'll hang himself. Unfortunately, this has been proven to be true for us all. Chances are that if we live long enough, we will make a lot of little mistakes, and on occasion, a few major ones. And, it eventually dawns on us that we really do need a savior. Over the course of time, many of us have come to rely on the saving grace and atonement wrought by Jesus Christ. Hang, man, when are we ever going to learn that only Christ is able to sever the cords of sin and death and set us free? (Written, 10 January 2014) DONNA'S PLANTATION Inevitable. We knew it was going to happen. And, we were virtually unable to prevent it. About a year ago, my wife, Donna, cajoled, pleaded, and begged me to let her purchase just one little indoor plant just to liven up the breakfest room. Knowing the extent of her husband's most benevolent, tenderhearted nature, she appealed to him at a most apropos time...Her entreaty reached our ears just as the band was playing the Star-Spangled Banner prior to the start of this year's Super Bowl.* So, Donna acquired her one little plant and placed it on a small round table by our breakfast room windowseat. Today, three months later we took count, and there are now seven (count them) different plants...from a cactus to a poinsettia on the same table. In pursuing her floriferous proliferation, my sweet botanical wife has now placed two ferns in our dinning room, a hanging vine in our downstairs bathroom, and a Japanese vine that raps around our neck as we enter the kitchen. Ah so. Donna recently informed me that the upstairs would be next to receive the addition of any new frondescent foliation. As for me, I'm thinking about opening a discount floral shop. (*This article was originally written in March, 1977. The Oakland Raiders beat the Minnesota Vikings 32-14 in Super Bowl XI, that year.) WHILE WE HAVE TIME When we carry our past into the present, it usually affects our future. Our past is filled with stuff, some good some bad, usually consequential, affecting both our present and our future. We spend much of our present time living in the past, largely because we remember it. (Hey, it's a very difficult task to remember our future, since we haven't lived it yet, and our present is oh so fleeting, it comes and goes faster than the speed of light, or so it seems.) What should we then do? Let us live now Let us live well now Let us enjoy to the fullest, the present moments for they are rapidly gone. Bring up the past only when absolutely necessary, only when beneficial. Anticipate our future. Dream about our future. Make plans concerning our future, Let us build our wonderful future by the auspicious actions we take at the present time. Let us use our present time wisely, gently, energetically, and compassionately. Let us do go good while we have time. While we have time. (Written December 26, 2013) (There's a large gap of space here, why, I don't know. Just continue to scroll down until you come to "Hearing Aids.") Please keep scrolling down. Please keep scrolling down. HEARING AIDS According to Groucho Marks, "One of the best hearing aids a man can have is an attentive wife." Along with the three r's, we could easily aid the art of responding. There seems to be within most of us the desire to be heard, and to have what we say appreciated by those whom we love or respect. Perhaps we should discover, before it is too late, that one of the major causes of broken homes is the heedless inattentiveness on the part of the partners in marriage. In our hurried paced lives, we may need to slow down and listen. And, listen well. This night, do yourself and your family a favor, become...a hearing aid. CHICKEN POX When our youngest daughter, Heather, was a three-year old, she had a cute little alibi which she often used when caught in an act of mischief. She would say, Chicken pox did it." Now, the business of shifting the blame for our miscues has been with us from the very beginning, when Adam and Eve sought to pass the buck. "He who excuses himself," wrote Gabriel Meurier, "accuses himself." Far too many of us, while in our youth, acquire the life long pattern of behavior of accusation and alibiing. And then, we pass this habit on to our children and grandchildren. Let us watch our excuses and avoid putting a pox on our houses if we can. CLIMBING THE SLOPES On many a occasion, through the years, most of us, in January, have made a written or mental list of resolutions which we try, usually futilely, to keep for the rest of the year, and which are quite often broken by the end of the month. Often, we are like beginning skiers who, promise themselves that in just one winter season, they shall become experts on the slopes, but instead, they find themselves nursing a broken leg into the springtime. So, once again, at the beginning of a new year, we find the mountains are before us. Carefully now, we shall not try to leap them in a single bound, instead, we shall simply try to climb them one minute at a time. All of us may increase our private prayer time for one more minute a day. While fifteen minutes might be a difficult stretch for some us, surely all of us may increase our scripture reading, one more minute a day. We may increase our praise and adoration of the Lord for one extra minute a day, even if we have to break our praising into increments of few seconds at a time. And surely, we can find one more sixty seconds in in which to praise or complement our spouse or or children in a most positive way, making the most of a worthwhile minute. Mountains often may seen difficult or beautiful depending on how we view them or climb them. Climbing the slopes may become a most joyous undertaking if we simply stride upward one minute at a time. THE INWARD DRUM "Have a conscience of your own,' wrote Harry Emerson Fosdick," and when in private life, the clamor of public custom grows very loud, do you grow quiet, quiet enough to hear the beat and the rhythm of that inward drum?" Regardless of the pressure of current popular opinion, we do not have to follow the shallow present trends of our times. God made us to be our own individualistic selves. Unique. Particular as each and every snowflake... with a far greater potential and much higher destiny. Snowflakes were made to fall. Man was born to rise. Listen for the upward beat of your own inner drum. |
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