Shade Tree Wisdom 6/9/10

Yes, I did. I found a dime just as I was starting my walk this morning. It was good news, because the breeze picked up and it was pleasant, because that breeze lessened the humidity.

So what does it mean when you find a dime? Find four more and get a cup of coffee from Mac? Drop it into the offering Sunday? Share it with a child by getting some ice cream? Or just expect good luck all day?

But I have been reading a review of a Book reviewing the history of anti-Catholicism in America in the early years of the past century. It is the story of the case which tried Edwin R. Stephenson, a Methodist minister and a member of the Ku Klux Klan, for shooting Rev. James E. Coyle on the front porch of his rectory.

The Klan was a power in areas of this country, a dark power, and in the trial the accused was acquitted by a jury that included several members of the Klan.

I read books like that and ask, “Is such a thing possible here?”

And the answer seems to be “yes, it is possible.” When we consider, for example, the reaction of many to the law on illegal immigrants passed by the State of Arizona. When one reads that the State Board of Education in California is planning to teach in the classroom that Arizona was immoral in passing such law. (Which law, by the way, nearly images the U S Law), then yes, it does seem possible.

Why? Partly because people really don’t think through such issues. They follow the loudest voice, and usually mob rules, and common sense flies out the window.

St. Paul said there would be times like this, when people “having itching ears”, would follow their own thought and feeling instead of hearing truth.

These surely are times when we need to be alert, use our common sense, and think issues through. We always ask, “Are they in keeping with the will of our God?” For only then is there blessing in the result.

GPD 6/9/10