Giving credit where credit is due is so often very hard for the individual. We all would like to be in the spotlight! A long time ago when I was 12, one of my cousins became a hero to me. The man was phenomenal! He was a football star, All-American, great at baseball, track, and one of the few people I had encountered at that early age who truly had a "philosophy" for living. His every word I hung on and listened with intense pride that he would bestow upon me the wisdom of his life. One of the most famous of his "sayings," was, "Never pass up the chance to be the hero." I quickly adapted this as a part of my own persona and continue to this day to live the echo of those words.
I began driving(tractors, pickups, and grain haulers)at the age of 9. That was common on the farms where I grew up, and none of us ever gave much thought to the cost of the fuel that went into the equipment. We pulled up by a 500 gallon tank and pulled down the hose and filled up. Today I was at the local convenience store and it was time for a fill-up. $46 later I was calculating the most recent mileage figures and being more than thankful that I can range upwards of 30 mpg. I do better on my Harleys out here on the Great American Desert. They can do 50+ mpg!
The thought has struck me that the leaders of America are missing a wonderful opportunity to "be the heros." Instead of letting gas prices soar to the outer limits of the public's ability to pay, they have the opportunity to set precedents and become, for all intents and purposes, the "hero" for the American people. I don't pretend to understand the inner working of politics. I do know that we help everyone in the world with everything they need as much as we can supply. Why is it, then, that we have to pay through the nose for everything we get from the world? Is it out of loving kindness? Is it out of some sense of guilt because life is so good in the United States? I don't think so. Putting everything in perspective economically we are paying the same prices for everything that we did in 1960. That may come as a shock to you, and I know it does to me, but things are relatively the same as they have always been with fluctuations in what the dollar is worth and what it can get you.
What has this got to do with God in my life? That is a good question. Think to the truth that lies within you. God's business is not man' business, and vice versa. God may not choose to change how things are in people's lives, but He can make a difference in how we deal with the workaday world that we live in. He calls us to be the people that we strive to be. Believers in every sense of the word, and ready to "be the hero" every day by how we live our lives and commit ourselves to His Son's teachings.
Noone said it would ever be easy, but quite often we make it harder than it has to be. Look to the Lord and you, also, shall find the answers for dealing with life in the 21st century. In Christ's Love, Preacher.
