Thanksgiving

A week ago, we got a sudden snowfall of three inches of snow.  Vince's school was cancelled completely, although Anna's was on time.

The children were pretty thrilled by the snow.  That evening, both Anna and Vince prayed:  "Thank you, thank you, thank you for the snow!"

Of course, we live in Indiana and three days later temperatures were up to fifty degrees and all of the snow was melting.  Then, both Anna and Vince prayed:  "Thank you, thank you, thank you that the snow is melting!"

As it says in Job, "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."

I am not totally certain why so many people fixate on the weather.  We can't change it, most of us don't depend on it for our livelihood, and yet, it is something that we talk about an awful lot.

Certainly, we can see God's faithfulness in the changing of the seasons, just as we see it in the rising of the sun and the rotations of the planets.  And this is what I am grateful for -- not a little fall of snow, or its melting -- but a great God who loves and cares for the smallest details of this Universe and who is faithful in its administration.

This Thanksgiving I am grateful for many things, but most of all, I am thankful that Jesus loves me.

Pessimistic

Margaret was a born pessimist.  Not that I knew here when she was born.  She was probably about 78 years of age, when I first met her.

One day she came in to see me with a slightly happier look on her perpetually gloomy countenance.  "Dr. Waldron," she said.  "Something good almost happened to me last week."

"What was that?"  I asked her.

"Well, my son, Charlie, took me down to the pharmacy to get my prescriptions filled the other day and while we were down there, I didn't know it, but he put my name in a drawing to win a free scooter."

"Oh," I said.

"Yes," said Margaret.  "You can probably guess already.  I was pretty shocked when the man from the pharmacy called to say that I'd won that scooter.  I thought they must have called the wrong Margaret, but he assured me that no, they had the right person.  Well, I was pretty pleased for a little while -- till they got it out to my place and saw how big it was."

"Dr. Waldron, I just don't know what I'm going to do with it.  It's just way too big for me!"

Margaret was just one of those blessed folks who believes there can't be a silver lining without a dark cloud somewhere near.  That where there is smoke, there's sure to be a fire -- and likely a burning house with children in it.

Such an attitude is depressing to be around and it can be contagious.

Of course, the difference is all in perspective.  There wasn't any real down side to her scooter -- it was free.  She could use it a little or a lot, it didn't matter.

I am afraid that I can have a pretty similar view of the world, depending on the day.  It seems unreasonable to turn from pessimism to optimism, for optimists are often wrong.  Bad things do happen and even the most optimistic person can get beaten down in this world.  Instead of optimism, I need joy.

For, joy bubbles forth from a heart that knows that God is good and that everything happens in accordance with His plan. In that joy and gratefulness even the darkest parts of life can be appreciated and the good things are enjoyed far more.

I would live in joy today.

Red Delicious?

Red Delicious.  By all accounts, based on the name, these should be the best or, almost the best apples.  They just aren't the best, by any means.

The first Red Delicious apple tree was grown on a farm near Peru, Iowa in 1880.  People liked it immediately and recognized it as a good eating apple.  It has been grown ever since.

I don't mind Red Delicious apples, in fact, I quite like them.  Except for one thing.  Many of them are hypocrites.

On the outside, they appear firm and beautifully red in color, but when you bite into them, you find a soft apple that lost its flavor awhile ago.  Beauty may be only skin deep, but with apples, it is the flavor and the texture that are important, not the color of the peeling.

There are far too many people who claim to be Christians who do not have the "taste" of Christians to others.  Everyone knows what a Christian is supposed to be, what he is supposed to do, and how he should act.  They are pretty quick to notice and point out inconsistencies.

There is little worse, to one who does not know Christ, then to see someone who claims to be a Christian act in a way that is not Christ-like.  I have heard so many people say things like:  "I would never be a Christian.  My brother claims to be one and he's the biggest hypocrite you ever saw!"

It is my responsibility to live as a true disciple of Christ.  It must not, cannot be just a surface change.  It will only be real if my heart is changed.

Red Delicious apples are all too often Mealie Masqueraders.  I would be like a Fuji or, a Gala apple, where what is on the surface goes to the core.  Love, kindness -- the sweetness of Christ permeating my life and leading others to Him.

Is Spelling Important?

"Beatle starts with 'B!'"  Elliot said emphatically.  He is learning some of his letters and beginning sounds.

"What does Vince start with?"  I asked him.

"Bince starts with 'B!'"  Elliot said.

Elliot reminds me of Spanish speakers in Central America.  For them, the letters B and V are the same sound.  Why a word like "bienvenidos" is spelled with a B and V rather than two Bs is a mystery to them.

Spelling in English is really tough.  You have weird rules like "i before e," that have a multitude of exceptions.  There are strange silent letters like p in "pneumonia" and k in "knight."  There are words that are spelled differently, but pronounced the same, like faux and foe.  There are even words that are spelled the same and pronounced differently like Polish and polish. 

I have found that it is easier to spell words correctly, if you can say them correctly. At least sometimes.

I know that many people believe that spelling is unimportant and that with the advent of computers and spell checkers and weird abbreviations like ROFL, you can get by quite in this world without learning how to spell.

Maybe they are right.  Maybe I am a throwback to the twentieth century, but I must confess that I believe a certain knowledge of spelling is important.  There are many things that separate most of us from the animals, beyond the ability to grunt "yes" in reply to the question "Do you want pancakes for breakfast?"  One of the most important of these is that we can pick up a pen, place it to paper and communicate -- without a spell checker and without electricity -- and that is a very cool thing, indeed.