I recently browsed through some webpages with various pictures and messages. I was somewhat concerned when one of the messages said: “I will never regret doing wrong, I will only regret the good things I did for the wrong people.” Wow, that is one bitter person.
Another adage is “that if it is not beautiful or useful, get rid of it.” Sounds okay until you start thinking about people and whether they fit into those categories. I also would hate to throw out my old photo of a bunch of cows in a field. They were my grandfather’s dairy herd in England…it isn’t pretty or useful but it is dear to my heart.
This is the age of communication but one has to be discerning about what one hears and reads. I still recall my mother-in-law’s adamant statement regarding television: “Well, it wouldn’t lie to me.”
“Oh yes it would Mom,” I argued. There is nothing holy about television regardless of its attempt to assure us that they speak the truth and nothing but the truth…only God can do that.
We are asked to “beware of false prophets” and I think we all find that hard at times. I tend to be a “research” kind of person but that doesn’t stop me from being swayed by good intentions that were poorly placed…I recall once phoning a non-profit just prior to writing them a cheque. I wanted to know what percentage of my money would actually go to the particular group I wanted to support. I finally squeezed out of them that only 10% would. Needless to say the cheque was never sent.
Many stories have been written regarding the lives of so called Christian religious “prophets” of the recent age…and it has given many non-Christians fodder for their criticism of the Christian church.
And perhaps our own lives do not always reflect what our faith teaches us. But we are not alone; Peter denied Christ three times…sometimes our speech and actions deny Christ also. But thanks to God, we have a forgiving Father.
Those in my age group are, I believe, far less wary of strangers and perhaps a bit childlike in our belief that people are intrinsically good. It was an age of general good manners and respect. This isn’t to say that you didn’t get shafted occasionally, but mostly a word spoken was a promise kept. We were in business for years and got taken a few times but a handshake was an acceptable bargain and we actually bought a garage on just that.
But the “good old days” were not always good; they taught us lots of lessons. One of them was endurance, and we have endured through the Great Depression, World War II, the Cold War, Korean War, polio epidemics, and the now threat of terrorism. We have seen the good, the bad and the ugly and we have persevered. We have been discerning in searching out what is right and what is wrong in the world and yes, we have made mistakes. We hope we have left a legacy of hope and endurance because those are the lessons God has taught us through the years. Time will tell if we have achieved that goal.
