I’m pretty sure I lost my reading glasses this week while running through a parking lot in the rain. Anyway, I had the glasses, then I ran through the rain, then at some point later I didn’t have my glasses. Such things happen, I suppose. And as long as I can get an article out of it, I suppose I can survive.
Every time I drive to my parents’ house in central Texas, I tell the family to be on the lookout for zebras. The hot, dry environment is similar to the African savannah, making it perfect for exotic game ranches. Of course, wild animals prefer to avoid open spaces in general, and noisy areas such as highways in particular. So our vigilance — well, mine — went for naught.
Guess what we saw Friday, not 100 yards from the highway? Four zebra, big as life.
Like the rest of us, Paul had plenty of opportunities for boasting if he were inclined to seek them. He lists some of them in Philippians 3:5-6. Circumcised. Descended from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Devout follower of Jehovah God for his entire life. A spotless reputation for righteousness among all who knew him. Such things were, in fact, used by many Jewish Christians to distance themselves morally and spiritually from others, particularly Gentiles.
But Paul abandoned such things.
Alton Brown, my favorite foodie, has a real attitude about what he calls “unitaskers” — that is, kitchen implements that serve only one function. Strawberry slicers, rice cookers, countertop rotisseries, basically anything sold on late-night television — scrap them all. The only unitasker you should have in your kitchen, he says, is a fire extinguisher.
It is the exception to the unitasker rule that I would like to address here.
Once upon a time, there lived a young man in a faraway place; although Aggies like us inevitably want to call such characters Rock, we’ll call him Jake.
It is said that Johnny Cash, having been asked what his idea of paradise was said, “This morning, with [June], having coffee.” You may say that is true love epitomized. I call it a kinder, gentler version of the life view that almost destroyed Johnny Cash with drugs and alcohol. “Paradise” in the mind of many, including Mr. Cash evidently, is nothing more than earthly joy writ large.
