Little Actions Can Result in Big Blessings

Opportunities Abound Be a Blessing!

A couple of days ago I had an important appointment. Even though I wasn't sure how to get to the place where the meeting was to happen, I arrived on time, early, actually. I was dressed OK. I thought things went well. When I finished I called Kathy to give her a verbal "thumb-up," and see if she wanted me to pick up anything on the way home (A man's got to earn his points when he can.). It was then that disaster, or at least potential disaster struck. I reached in my left pocket and my keys weren't there. I patted my other pockets, looked in my arm-full of stuff I was carrying, and they weren't there. I went back to the place where I had had my meeting, and they weren't there. The receptionist said she hadn't seen any.  Sinking feeling. Calculation as to how much trouble and expense would be involved making new keys. Wondering if there were any identifying marks on the key-ring that would lead to compromised security. Sinking feeling is intensified. I called Kathy. It took an hour out of her day to bring me another key. That gurgling sound is the sound of my point total going down the drain. My one hope was that when she arrived with the other car key, I'd find that I had locked my keys in the car, and all would be well. Alas, even after I checked under seats and floor mats, I didn't find the lost keys. I went back to the receptionist and gave her my card with a request to "call me if . . ." I once more back-tracked where I had walked, and was about ready to give up, when I remembered a couple of guys had been working on some building project in the corner of the parking garage. I hadn't walked particularly close to where they were, so I hadn't thought of asking them earlier, but in desperation I thought I'd give it a shot. As I approached them the guy who appeared to be in charge read the question on my face. Before I even asked, he pointed to my keys hanging on a faucet handle. I soon confirmed that yes those were my keys. When I went over to thank the guy he told me that he had spotted the keys on the pavement and asked his trainee to pick them up and put them where they might be seen. It would have been very easy for those two guys to have said, "Oh, just leave them alone." or even, "Serves the person right, they should be more careful with their keys." Obviously, though, they had better thoughts than that, and I'm blessed because of it.   “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.” (Matthew7:12, NLT) I'm sure glad those guys were thinking along those lines. I need to think of ways that I can apply Jesus' words and be a blessing to others, maybe even someone I've never even met. It's STTA (Something To Think About).

Thankful to be Uninfected

Thankful For My Health, and Those Who Help Maintain It:

I just came home from my dentist's office.  It was a completely painless visit.  All I did was speak to the receptionist and returned home.  I have a fairly impressive array of metal in my body, so I'm supposed to take an antibiotic before I have dental work done.  I had forgotten to "pre-medicate."   You might be surprised to know that I'm not really aggravated.  I'm thankful.   Part of my memories from my childhood are of my great grandfather and a great aunt, who had broken their hips.  One walked with a terrible limp, the other was bed-fast.  My late Father-in-law broke his wrist.  He never regained full use of that hand, and it caused him a good bit of pain.  I have known folk with worn out knees.  Their lives have been severely limited.  The reason I need to take antibiotics is because surgeon put my broken hip and wrist back together, and another replaced my worn out knee with a new titanium and plastic model.  Sure, I'd rather have the original equipment than my metal parts, but I far prefer them to the crippled states I spoke of a moment ago. Not only am I a beneficiary of the incredible skill, and marvelous technology of orthopedic medicine, I live in an era in which people have been incredibly helped by antibiotic medicines.  I know it is popular to talk about the overuse, and misuse of antibiotics, but before the development of medications like penicillin: 90% of children with bacterial meningitis died. Among those children who lived, most had severe and lasting disabilities, from deafness to mental retardation. Strep throat was at times a fatal disease, and ear infections sometimes spread from the ear to the brain, causing severe problems. Other serious infections, from tuberculosis to pneumonia to whooping cough, were caused by aggressive bacteria that reproduced with extraordinary speed and led to serious illness and sometimes death. (https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/conditions/treatments/Pages/The-History-of-Antibiotics.aspx) We have the luxury of speaking about the inappropriate use of these "wonder-drugs" because we live on the back side of the changes these medications brought.  They are one of the reasons that life-expectancy in the United States has doubled in the past century-and-a-half. My wasted trip to the tooth-doctor served to remind me of the blessing I enjoy every day--a measure of health that was unheard of for accident-prone senior-citizens through most of history.  Many of you who read this do so through corrective lenses.  Some of you, like me, use hearing-aids.  Some of you are able to function because your diabetes, hyper-tension, heart ailment, or other chronic condition is controlled with a doctor's and/or pharmacist's assistance.   Sure, there is much about our healthcare system that needs to be improved.  In the USA, following, our recent election it is a hot topic.  In the midst of addressing what needs to be changed, let's just be sure to not forget to give thanks.   Lord, help me to be thankful for those things I so often take for granted. AMEN It's STTA.

Something To Think About, Blessing, 4/8

"Blessed," "Blessing," or "Bless your heart."  I don't know of any other word that is as much a part of Christian jargon as the word bless.   Engineers don't give that label to a good design--"We are just so blessed that Mary came up with this new configuration for the Q-bolts."  Can you imagine an accountant, with his requisite spread-sheets, pronouncing the bottom line, "Blessed"? God is the bless-er.  We are blessed by things like a nice worship service, or a timely visit from a Godly friend. This isn't an anti-jargon piece.  It is a challenge.  Do we even know what we are talking about when we claim to be blessed.  I fear we don't.  Often that which "blesses me" is nothing more than Christianese for "I like it."  I find, though, that the Bible speaks of some very un-enjoyable Blessings.  In Luke 6 Jesus speaks of poverty, hunger, weeping, and persecution as being conditions of blessing.  While those who are well fed, rich, laughing and well-spoken-of as being those who are in a state of woe (Luke 6:20-26).  In Psalm 107 blessing begin with misery.  As an old joke about a mule goes, "First you got to get his attention."  (I've heard it told much better, but here is the joke.)   A song some young people have shared at our church asks, "What if Your blessings come through raindrops . . . ?"  (This is just a cellphone video, buthere Grace and Julia share the song at a sister church.)  Biblical blessing is more than feeling good; it is being made better. Too many of we preacher-types are looking for a message to make people feel better, and too many pew-sitters are looking for a more comfortable place to sit.  Too bad.  We are likely missing some blessings.   It's Something to Think About. Explore the Good News here.  A great place to start:

What do you know? Goats really can climb trees!

SOMETHING  TO THINK ABOUT I continue to be amazed, and when I think about the fact that I'm amazed, I'm amazed again.   Let me explain. In yesterday's STTA, I mentioned going out on a limb--a metaphor for making a prediction for which I really don't have sufficient data, or authority.   I did a quick web search to look for a picture that illustrated the point, and found this shot of a goat on a tree branch. Don't ask. I have no idea! It looks so impossible--the branch is so small, and who ever heard of a goat climbing a tree--that I figured it was a really skillful photoshop job.  It illustrated my point, though, so, with the disclaimer caption, I included it. Dave Barry used to talk about "Alert readers."  I have them too.  One of those alert readers, wrote back and let me know that my picture of a goat in a tree--and again I quote D.B., "I'm not making this up."--really is a picture of a goat in a tree. 16 Goats In A Tree Here is a video of these marvelous creatures doing their limb walking and hopping.  And both the websitewhere the video is found, and another one here show not only their acrobatics, but tell about their place in the economy and ecology of Morocco.   Why should I be surprised at a tree-climbing goat?  God's world is full of wonders.  Why should I think that because I haven't seen or experienced it, it is therefore unusual?  God and His creation are certainly bigger than me, or my thinking, or even my imagination.   Last weekend Covington Bible Church was privileged to host a three day event for our community--the live Nativity.  I began the weekend with a box of expectations and limitations.  Some of the key people who have been involved in supporting and staffing the event in the past have made choices that prevented them from being involved this year. There is almost always at least one night that is too cold, too wet, too windy, too something for the event. I had watched the event for years.  I had calculated that X number of people was absolute capacity.   My box lies flat.  All four sides splayed out on the ground; the lid lying in splinters from crashing onto my hard head.  Again I ask, "Why am I surprised?  Is God limited by the limits of my expectations?" We asked for suitable weather.  God chose to give us three perfect evenings.  We needed adequate personnel.  The CBC family rose to the occasion.  We ended up handling more than 50% more people than I thought possible, and did so well. I wonder why God makes goats that climb trees, or why He chooses to bless the modest efforts of a group of people so abundantly?  My tentative conclusion is that He does such things, at least in part, to show His surpassing greatness.  For more on that hypothesis, see here, here, and here   Anyhow, It's Something to Think About--knowing you won't figure it out.