As far back as we have recorded history, Humans have run the race set before them. In actual races they have run, swam, ridden and driven to be the fastest, the best, the first. The desire within to say “Yes I can” or “ Yes I did”, motivates each to find their niche. Some trust in horses and some in chariots, and some possibly in their own strength. Training is vital to being best. Good nutrition and proper exercise will enable the best development to happen. But for the one who will run in the sport of athletic competition, being the fastest runner is dreamed and sought with many trials and often tears. Admiring the accomplishments of others and wondering if it can be done better drive fertile minds to obtain mastery over their muscles. It is the race in which they are determined to become the victor and champion. Continue reading
Going On
“I’m not giving up. I’ll keep holding on.” So goes the lyrics of a popular Southern Gospel song. A lot of folks feel a real affinity with those thoughts. Holding on. Waiting for tomorrow. Looking toward the future with less thought of today and little of yesterday. What is past is done. What is now is rapidly becoming past. And what is going to be is yet to be seen. It is not that we are accepting an inevitable unchangeable predetermined future; although there is a measure of understanding in knowing that the Lord has the future in His “right now” like we holding memories of what was. I have choices to make for what’s next. The lessons of Scripture teach us that whether we go to the left or the right the Lord is there. I like the other line in the lyrics just a bit better. “I’m not giving up. I’ll keep going on.” Continue reading
Accomplishing Nothing
Accomplishing nothing often exceeds our expectations. We strive to be successful on whatever standard our experience and thinking justifies as correct, right, proper, profitable or advantageous. Rebels throughout history have often be relegated to the roles of villains or ne’er-do-wells. They go against the norm. They reject the accepted and seek to turn truth itself on its ear. At least that is what is thought of them at the moment. History, again, often records their efforts as revolutionary, remarkable insight or fundamentally re-directive. How about a recent example? As he considered what to build into his automobile, Henry Ford said that if he had asked the average man on the street what was needed to advance their situation in life , they would have said “A faster horse”. However genetic engineering was not a well established science in those days. Henry’s radical approach to the need for better transportation accomplished nothing for those who wanted a faster horse. Continue reading
Huge!
Huge! Immense! Gargantuan and a dozen or so other descriptive words to express the largeness of something so small. I get this picture in my mind of the spider drawings found in the Andes Mountains in Peru, South America. The problem is, Ricinulei are one of the rarest spider genera on earth. The indigenous people of Nazca to whom the geoglyphs are attributed would have had to have examined them under a magnifying glass to determine the exact shape of the unique leg design drawn in the mountains. But, the optical technology to produce such a glass was not invented for many centuries in the future of the creation of the drawings in the mountains. While that in itself is fascinating, I am more drawn to the contrast. Why would someone make such a big display about something so small? Continue reading