Shade Rree Wisdom 6/19/08

The air is still this morning. Not even the very tops of the trees show any movement. So the forecast is hot again, and summer is still days away. But on the walk I see a sign on a pole saying, “Lost Cat” and describing this cat. I wonder how many such signs ever have any result?

So many problems. It reminds me I haven’t read a Sherlock Holmes mystery for a long time, but still remember his classic reply to the puzzled Dr Watson. “Elementary, my dear Watson”. Then he proceeds to unravel the puzzle and it all makes sense.

But look at our world and its problems. The Air Force recently awarded a multi billion dollar contract to replace aging tankers to a firm overseas. Boeing lost it and complained. Now they reveal that there were 7 major errors in the contract and the bidding, and the contract is up for review.

The flood waters in Iowa are receding and leaving major heartache in their wake. One farmer lost 300 brood sows and 800 piglets to the waters. Who replaces that? And the lost treasures, the heritage of a lifetime, or even several lifetimes, gone, washed away, leaving sadness.

Here is a report that gas stations are starting to reject credit cards because of the high cost to them. It is easier for me, at least, to use the card to make gas payments. Well. Get used to it.

So where is the “Elementary, my dear Watson” in all this?

I find comfort in turning to psalm 139. Listen to the opening verses in The Message: 1 A David psalm. God, investigate my life; get all the facts firsthand. 2 I'm an open book to you; even from a distance, you know what I'm thinking. 3 You know when I leave and when I get back; I'm never out of your sight. 4 You know everything I'm going to say before I start the first sentence. 5 I look behind me and you're there, then up ahead and you're there, too— your reassuring presence, coming and going. 6 This is too much, too wonderful— I can't take it all in! “ Psalm 139, 1-6.

Look at the rich promises of God that David lists here. God knows, God understands, God stands always ready to hear and to help. Let’s remember such promises, and depend on them, and the troubles of this world fade into the background. Indeed, the living become “Elementary, My Dear Watson, or Christian”, because God is always there.

In the very first Church convention James reminded the Christians that “Known to God are all His works from the beginning of the world”. Acts 15,18. So in this world of mystery, it is good to know the God who knows all things, and trust Him to guide us directly and safely home.
GPD 6/19/08