MY ALMOST GIRL 629

    Neil Simon wrote poigantly about his "Good-bye
   Girl."

    When my hairs have all turned grey (of those that remain,
   that is) I shall fondly reminisce about "My Almost Girl"....

     "Honey, I'm home! I'm starved,  is supper ready?"
     "Well, almost."
     "Almost, what do you mean, almost?"
      "The turkey is not quite unthawed."
      "Well, this turkey's unthawed and ready to eat."
      ("You can say that again.")
     "What...What did you say?"
     "Nothing, deer. Why don't you lie down until supper's
    ready?"
     "Is the bed made?"
   "Well, almost. It'll just taje about ten minutes to
    dry the bedding....You still love me though, don't you?"
    "Well, almost!"

                                                 

                                                          SCRAM-O  627

                              It's time that we who profess
                           the Christian faith stop going around
                           acting defeated, as though Satan
                           has triumphed, once again,
                           over a follower of the King.

                           The scriptures tell us that Christ is
                           in us and we are in him. And he is Lord
                           of all. Satan is a defeated foe to each
                           of us who has accepted the Christ as
                           our Lord and Savior.
 
                           And we have been given the power to say
                           "Scram-o! Beat it kid" to that old serpent.
                           And if we say this in the name of the Lord
                           Jesus Christ, Satan has no other choice
                           but to depart and slither away.
   
                           In the name of Christ, take charge!
 
​                           (First published on June 3, 1979)
    

   
                                                     TRAINING CHILDREN  623

                     "Training is everything," wrote Mark Twain.
                     "The peach was once a bitter almond.
                     Cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a
                     college education."

                    Parenthetically, we might also include:
                    A prune is a plum with great potential 
                    pathetically gone dry.

                  Our children are trained by everything we
                  do or don't. By our every word or silence.
                  By our every action or reaction. By our
                  absence or attendance to the duties of
                  child-rearing, our children will trained.

                 Plan now for "great" grandchildren. 
                 Train up your children in the way they
                 should go.

                 (First published on May 24, 1979)

                         

                       HUMOR  622

     In this daily drudgery whereupon we trip over
     so many of the foibles and fumbles of mankind, perhaps we
     shall one day discover the sanest of men are those who have
     learned to laugh loudest at themselves.

     For after all, "Humor is a sense of proportion"
     (Kahlil Gibran). And, while there is time for
     seriousness, there remains, on the scale of life, abundant
     room for humor.

     James Thurber stated that humor was "one of our
     greatest and earliest national resources which must be
     preserved at all cost."
 
     (Before we leave this article, we do have one final
​     question.... Has anybody heard any good jokes lately?)  

   

​                                       HUMDRUM HEROES  619

             We are presently reading the works of Tolkien
             in which the heroes are magnificent and the villains
             are horrendous.

             And while it might be enjoyable to dream
             of conquering and defeating those darkened
             shadows of another world, we suspect
             that we live among and daily meet many
             unsung and unheralded heroes of the
             daily humdrum.

             To constantly, work at a job that is laborious
             and tiresome year after year, to feed and clothe
             loved ones.... takes a hero of a special kind. 

             To continually prepare meals and to keep our homes 
             comfortable and clean while tending young ones
             day in and day out, merits the medal of honor
             for the humdrum heroes of our society.

             Today and always, we gratefully honor and salute
             any and all of the unknown, unnamed heroes of the
             humdrum who constantly enrich our lives.

             (First published on May 15, 1979. Revisions made
             on February 11, 2020.)

       
     DISARM OUR HOSTILITY  615

     "If we could read the secret history of our
     enemies," wrote Longfellow, "we should find in
     each man's life sorrow and suffering enough to 
     disarm all hostility."

      It is easy for most of us to love someone,
      but it is probably difficult for any of us to love
      anyone, all the time.

      In a week's time we may find some who will "rub
      us the wrong way" by something they do or say."

      If their life's history were flashed before us
      perhaps we would be less quick to judge harshly,
      or condemn severely.

      O God, Give us, Thy grace sufficient enough
      to disarm all our hostility. In Jesus name, Amen.

                                                                   THANKSGIVING (1979) 699
                                           
                                   Our kind Heavenly Father
                                   We have come to the end of another decade.
                                   We affirm unto Thee that this past decade
                                   has been one of abundant blessings.
                                   We are grateful that for most of the past ten
                                   years, our sons and daughters have been 
                                   spared the horrors of war.
                                   We are grateful for this beautiful, magnificent
                                   country. We are highly favored to be living in
                                   America.
                                   We are grateful, that, in this land, the Bible is
                                   an open book, and the Church has open doors.
                                   We are grateful for the freedom of speech and
                                   press, and for the freedom to pursue happiness
                                   as we please.
                                   May we bless Thee in the nineties as Thou hast
                                   blessed us in the eighties.
                                   We thankfully give thanks for your constant presence
                                   in the name of Jesus Christ.
                                   Amen

                                   (First published on November 23, 1979  with revisions
                                   on November 27, 2019)

                                  
 

                                                           
                                     ISAIAH 65:24,25

                                     And it shall come to pass,
                                     that before they call,
                                     I will answer
                                     
                                     And while they are yet speaking,
                                     I will hear

                                     The wolf and the lamb shall
                                     feed together
                                     And the lion shall eat straw
                                     like the bullock

                                     And dust shall be the serpent's
                                     meat

                                     They shall not hurt nor destroy 
                                     in my holy mountain, saith the Lord

                                                                       
                                                   
                                        AT THE FIRESIDE 241

                                         "The real empire, wrote Cicero,
                                         is at the fireside."

                                         Would you have an empire
                                         more valuable than a hoard 
                                         gold?

                                         Would you have your secret
                                         chambers contain wealth to
                                         unfold?
                  
                                         Would you have a life filled
                                         with joyous memories
                                         as you grow old?

                                         Would you have an empire
                                         that would not be for a day
                                         but for ages untold?

                                         Then start today, to build
                                         for all eternity?

                                         For the wealth of a nation
                                         or a family shall always resides
                                         at the fireside

                                         (First published on November 14, 1976,
                                         with revisions on November 22, 2019)