Opportunity

ByHal Hammons

My mother’s birthday is this month. I have the opportunity to share it with her to a degree that has been impossible for years — since I was in college, really. We are within easy driving range; popping over to Burnet for lunch is a real possibility. So I’m going to try to do it, as much as is possible in the pandemic era, anyway.

I suppose I could just come up with a fresh set of excuses. But if changing circumstances all resulted in the same behavior, at some point someone would start questioning my intentions. And that would be reasonable. Not that I’m lunching with Mom just to appease the busybodies. But I digress.

I bring this up at a moment in history when excuses abound for absenting ourselves from public worship, and spending time with brethren in general. It’s a crazy world these days, and I am very much inclined to accept brethren at their word that they need to sequester themselves for health reasons. No accusations.

But the circumstances will change eventually. (Hasten the day, Lord!) Will our behavior change with it? Or will we find new ways to rationalize? The best way to self-check is to examine our current behavior. If we really would like to be encourage one another, we should find new ways to connect. The public assembly is the best way  (Hebrews 10:25), but there are other ways.

Don’t wait for better opportunities. Take advantage of what you have now. It’s good practice now, and it puts you in position to take advantage of better opportunities tomorrow.

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Let my people grow

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One of the first things you notice at Walt Disney World is the preponderance of “Mickey-shaped” items.  From pencil tops to fireworks, everything seems to consist of two small circles sitting atop a larger circle.  Sometimes, as with shrubbery, the shape is forced upon the item; those in charge simply alter it until it achieves the proper proportions.  Sometimes, as with ice cream, the item is formed inside a mold.  The latter of these can get downright creepy at times.  Forcing a pumpkin to grow in a “Mickey” shape by placing it in a mold in its infancy is … weird.  The desired effect is achieved, yes.  But at some point a living organism has to be allowed to grow in its own direction.  I don’t know.  Maybe I’ve just seen one too many Mickeys over the last seven years.

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A local fast-food emporium (which continually refuses to compensate me for all the publicity I give it) has a couple of yield signs in the parking lot.  All traffic yields to pedestrians (thanks for that), and “before food” traffic yields to “after food” traffic.   Makes sense.  If the “after food” cars can’t go, they get stalled at the window.  Then no one can go.

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