Popcorn

I was recently injured while making popcorn.  True story.  A stray kernel decided to pop within the fluffy confines of the bowl instead of in the popper — hardly unusual.  But this one sent a piece of hot bran straight into my right eyelid.  If I had that eye wide open at the time, it could have done serious damage.  As it was, I only had nagging pain for a couple of days — a small price to pay for a good story, I say.

We live in a hazardous world, make no mistake about it.  I think about it every time I hear car keys jingling in the hand of one of my daughters.  The chances of random disaster are miniscule.  Exercising proper care can all but ensure our safety in normal circumstances.  But “all but” is a powerful set of six letters.

That said, limiting our behavior to actions that cannot ever go horribly wrong leaves us with little to do but breathe and eat cabbage.  We cannot allow a reasonable degree of caution to become debilitating fear.  To do so shows a lack of faith in the God who promised He would never desert us (Hebrews 13:5-6).

Live your life, says the Preacher in Ecclesiastes 11:9 — always remembering God’s part in it, of course.  Take reasonable precautions, obviously (Proverbs 6:27).  Work hard, certainly (Proverbs 24:30-34).  And always give Him the praise, whether He chooses to give or take away on any given day (Job 1:20-21).

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to find out whether Amazon sells popcorn goggles.