Shade Tree Wisdom 1/26/09

The day is cold and dreary. It is called cloudy, but there was some drizzle on the windshield this morning, so it promises to be kind of wet, and they tell us it is surely needed. The prairies are dry, so the grass is easily ignited, and fire departments have been busy putting out grass fires. It’s a blessing that the wind has been kind of still, so fires don’t spread quite as quickly.

I noticed in the news columns letters are already beginning their carping. It kind of amuses me that the very same names that were always on President Bush for this or that, are now calling those things “mean-spirited and low down.”

The Golden Rule is, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. It’s often misused, misinterpreted, or casually set aside. But it makes a lot of sense. The Indian proverb said, “Don’t judge another till you have walked a mile in his moccasins.” Good advice, hard to do.

But look at the world we live in. It offers freedoms that have allowed growth of religious, spiritual, and moral diversity. World views have multiplied and consensus of moral and political agreement is rare if not non-existing. But history shows that there have been other times when conditions like this existed, and people lived, flourished, and died then too.

The Old Testament reading from Holy Scripture yesterday was from the Book of Jonah. (Takes only minutes to read it again). But Jonah is sent to a world that is totally different from his, and his first reaction was to run the other way as far and as fast as ship could carry him. But when he did go, he did not spend time carping and complaining about conditions. He had one word for them. “Yet forty days, and Nineveh will be overthrown”. Talk about sensation! Nineveh was used to being on top. They conquered. They ran rough-shod over other nations. They were success with a capital S.

The result? “The people of Nineveh believed God and repented.” Isn’t that amazing? One voice, boldly spoken, one message, and complete success!

I do believe there is a message for us. Our perspective is limited, and Jesus gives us reason to think twice before making judgments when He said, “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged”.Matt. 7,1. We have a Word that contains both Law and Gospel. The Law condemns, the Gospel offers grace. Our task, “Preach the Word.”

Maybe this offers you some food for thought in this world we are living in. May God give us wisdom, insight, and compassion with energy to do His will.

GPD 1/26/09