Shade Tree Wisdom 3/16/10

Quiet morning, so I spent my ten minutes filling out the census form and doing my civic duty. Just hold the applause, please. Then too, the envelope the form came in has printed in bold letters, “Your response is required by law”.

So the day lies ahead. I remember Walter Cronkite’s description of retirement. He is quoted as saying, “I get up in the morning with nothing to do, and by nine o’clock I’m already 3 hours behind”. Well, I do have some things to look at. I was remembering those Burma Shave signs along the highways. When they stopped erecting them in 1963, there were 7,000 across this country. Not in Wy, NM, Utah, or Mass. It all started when Allan Odell persuaded his father to try that kind of advertising for their new product, Burma Shave. The father peeled off 200 dollars and the campaign began, very successful, it turned out.

One sign I remember,

At crossroads,
don’t just trust to luck
The other car
May be a truck.

Or this,

Do not pass
On curve or hill,
If cops don’t get you,
morticians will

For more, google Burma Shave signs.

In our time when the Church seems to matter less and less, I got to reading the letter to the Thessalonians again. St. Paul had been hounded out from his work there, and now he writes them to encourage them. It strikes me how wonderful the power of the Word really is. For here there is a major city, sort of a trade center with some 200,000 inhabitants. The city is filled with idols, and that is the sort of people St. Paul is talking to. “That’s what some of you were”. Their entire lives had been lived worshipping idols of all kinds. Now they had heard the Truth of the Gospel, and the Holy Spirit dwelt in them. But the devil is busy. Relatives, friends, fellow workers, people they met everywhere still worshipped ‘the old way’. So he urges them to walk “so as to please God, just as you are doing, do so more and more.” 1 Thess 4,1 Then, in both letters Paul talks about the last days, and assures them they will not be left or forgotten. He ends with the blessing.

So rich, filled with longing for their souls, and yet trusting that He which has begun the work in you will fulfill it in the day of Jesus Christ. And I thought, what an encouragement for us in today’s culture. For we do not need any reminder that reads, “this is required by law”, for the Holy Spirit teaches and guides us in the faith, calms our fears, and strengthens our faith.

GPD 3/16/10