Ponytail

ByHal Hammons

Another anecdote from the fast-food establishment that continues to miss opportunities for free advertising in this space: I saw a worker walk to the edge of the food preparation area, turn 180 degrees, fix her ponytail, wash her hands, and return to work.

First of all, I pay attention to things.  I notice unusual behavior.  People who go out of their way to cross T’s and dot I’s stand out from the crowd — and I mean that in a good way.

Second, commitment to large concepts such as cleanliness and hygiene show up in little applications.  Faithful in little, faithful in much (Luke 16:10).

Third, the weirdest, most idiosyncratic behavior can become routine with proper training and practice.  She could have shuffled slowly to the restroom to do her hair maintenance.  Instead she walked quickly and deliberately to the first acceptable area, took care of business, and went straight back to work.  Clearly this was a habit that had been drilled into her.  And it took.  Good examples like those of Lois and Eunice (2 Timothy 1:5) breed good examples like Timothy (1 Timothy 4:12).

Doing the right thing is not just a matter of making good choices in the moment.  With proper diligence and training, the choices make themselves.  Setting an alarm for Sunday morning.  Doing daily Bible reading.  Praying regularly.  These are not naturally occurring instincts.  They come with time and attention.  But eventually, they become second nature — that is, if we are willing to overcome our “first nature” that leans heavily toward laziness, cutting corners, and settling for mediocrity.

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Social media has given a voice to people who take great pleasure in being obnoxious.  Space fails to provide a comprehensive proof of this concept; for our purposes here, I will limit my frame of reference to those who take pictures of themselves doing precisely what a sign is instructing people not to do.  Walking on the grass, swimming, smoking, the situational prohibitions run the gamut.  And the existence of the sign more or less implies that the behavior is not necessarily unlawful; people are simply asked to choose a different time and/or place.

Nope.  “Look at me!  I’m a rebel!  I break rules!  No one can tell me what to do!”  As the saying goes, it’s all fun until someone gets eaten by an alligator.

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When Balaam stubbornly refused to curse the people of God, Balak was furious. He was prepared to pay Balaam big money — and judging from the number of meetings Balaam took with Balak, Balaam was more than willing to accommodate him.  But, as Balaam told Balak, that’s not the way inspiration works — “Did I not tell your messengers whom you had sent to me, saying, ‘Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything contrary to the command of the LORD, either good or bad, of my own accord. What the LORD speaks, that I will speak’?” (Numbers 24:12-13).

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I expected it to be different.  I did not expect it to be that different.

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I was always a “better safe than sorry” kind of kid with regard to Biblical concepts.  For instance, Jesus said, “Swear not at all” in Matthew 5:34, so I wouldn’t say the word “swear.”  I’ve come to realize that isn’t the point of that passage; still, I can’t help cringing a bit when I hear someone say, “I swear to God.” 

I say that to bring up another passage from the Sermon on the Mount.  Matthew 5:22 reads, ‘But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.”

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All of these incidents seem to have one thing in common: Serena was losing the match at the time of the incident.