MAY 2013
Reading the headlines of today’s newspapers you sometimes think you’re reading a fiction novel. Foreign
nationals living in America for 10 years as sleeper agents blow up a race, government and the games it plays. I
could go on but then we would all be depressed. I have friends who think our government is going to collapse
soon, as in the next 5 years or so. Electricity and water will fail. The idea seems ludicrous to some of us but
universal health care, a president elected who has never had a job before and the boy scouts being attacked because
they “didn’t” have gays in their ranks. Fiction is now reality and I’m still waiting for someone to say ‘beam me up
Scotty, there is no intelligent life here’. Heart transplants are now a daily occurrence, kidney and liver transplants
are old news. I wouldn’t be surprised if they start moving our brains into younger bodies next. Science fiction will
soon be the norm. The strange thing is no matter how great the accomplishments we make, nothing can touch
what God has already done. We have thousands of people trying to figure out how DNA ties together. God
designed it and put it all together, we’re just trying to read His blueprints. We get all caught up in how smart we
are and yet we can’t add one inch to our stature. Matt: 6.27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit
unto his stature? We worry too much about the wrong things. Ecclesiastes 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of
the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
I just added 3 loads of rock to my road, got it spread out a bit and now I’m just waiting for the rain. After
the next rain I can go smooth out any new ruts and spread some rock in those holes and then I’m good for a year or
so. Nothing I can do till it rains. Nothing! I can worry and plan and look for other ways but short of pumping
thousands of water out of my pond I just wait on God. Which is exactly what I’m supposed to do. Wait on God!
The hardest thing for anyone to do. Wait? Are you nuts, just put it in the microwave and
dinner’s ready in 2.1 minutes. I remember as a kid all the family would come over and the
men would set up their ice-cream makers and sit around talking while cranking the ice-cream.
Us kids got to break up the block of ice and keep all the different tubs full. I remember the
argument between the guys about the new electric ice-cream maker and whether it would be
able to make ice-cream as good as the hand crank. I couldn’t wait till I was strong enough to
be able to take my turn at the crank. Wasn’t it about an hour? Not sure how long it took but I
remember the men sitting under the shade tree talking and cranking and the women in the
kitchen and the kids running around playing. Now they would order the food, take the ice cream out of the freezer
and the kids would be sitting in the corner bored out of their mind staring at their cell phones while the adults stare
at whatever TV show is popular at the moment. When’s the last time any of us played a game outside? Every
holiday our family got together at grandma’s house and all the men went down to the football field at the school
and played football. All us kids couldn’t wait to be old enough to take part and about the time we did the older
ones decided they were too old to play. But we, my generation, played for a while. I remember a few times we
had people show up from over a 100 miles away. It was a tradition we wanted to keep, but the school built a better
fence and astro turf was a bit harder to play on. Ended up with a few injuries and next thing you know it’s gone.
The tradition is now just a memory, kind of like
sitting at the dinner table. Now you sit in front of
the TV. I wonder if we got some of those old
ice-cream makers out of daddy’s barn and turned
off the TV, could we all sit under the shade tree
and crank ice-cream and enjoy ourselves? No
matter how smart we get, no matter how fancy
our machine’s, they don’t make us happy. We
have to do that all by ourselves. Could you enjoy
a day just visiting under the shade tree, no cell
phones or internet? Just spend the day talking to
friends and family and maybe playing cards or
domino’s? I remember mom playing badminton, which she always won. She played kickball with us some,
giggling the whole time. When’s the last time you played kickball with your kids? Find a vacant lot and set up
some bases and play kickball. Anyone even remember how to play? Put away your technology and focus on
what’s important, family and friends. I can promise you this, no matter their age, no matter how much they fuss,
your kids want to play with you.
Dale Word