The Job Won’t Cry for You When You Die

A lot people still recognize the name of Ty Cobb, who to this day holds the highest lifetime batting average of all time: .367! Still, to some he is more famous for his cantankerous nature and terrible temper. (See FIELD OF DREAMS.)

Historian Charles Alexander gives a most compelling quote in his definitive biography of Cobb. Growing old, and having lost his oldest child, Ty, Jr., to cancer, Cobb lamented the time he spent away from his children. “When you get older, you wish for companionship. I was a loner; I couldn’t have that with my children.”

           

The loner died lonely.

The Lord’s Calf

Martyn Lloyd-Jones tells the parable of the farmer, who had a cow that had twin calves. The farmer was overjoyed. He came into his family and said, "The Lord has be so good to us, you know what we're going to do? We're going to give one of the calves to the Lord to thank Him for his bounty."

Two or three days later, the farmer came in with a sad and drawn face. His family was alarmed and asked, "What's the matter?"

"Oh," the farmer replied, "The Lord's calf just died."

Somebody’s Watching

I read, years ago, something General Colin Powell wrote. He reflected upon a story someone had once told him. Three guys were hired to dig a ditch. One leaned on his shovel and babbled on about someday owning the company. The second guy grumbled because he felt he was working too many hours for too little pay. The third guy just kept on digging.

Years later, the first ditch digger was still babbling on, hardly lifting his shovel. The second guy feigned an injury and was receiving disability. The third guy owned the company.

Powell took from that story this lesson: someone is always watching. He used it well, when he worked, as a young man, mopping the floors of a local soft-drink bottling plant.

Powell made the decision to be the best mopper he could be. He was doing well and then, one day, he was tested.

A worker mishandled 50 cases of cola and they crashed to the concrete. The floor was covered with the sugary cola. All of this crushed Powell's spirit, but he kept mopping. He literally told himself, “Mop right to left-left to right.”

At last, the summer came to an end. The foreman delivered a short message to Powell, "You mop floors pretty good." The next summer, that same foreman promoted Powell to filling the bottles. The summer after that, Powell was made deputy foreman.

The lesson held, someone was watching.

The Railway Women

There is an inspiring story told by Frances Rockmore Velie about four courageous women of the Quaker faith.  During the Second World War these women were in German-occupied Toulouse when they learned that eight hundred captured Jews were packed on a train, in a single cattle car, and were heading for an occupation camp.

In route, this train would soon arrive in Toulouse where it would stop briefly. The Quaker women knew that those Jewish “passengers” would have traveled two days without water. 

The four women promptly nabbed every reachable container and worked through the night pouring water in hopes of easing the torment of the suffering Jews.  But when the train arrived at the station a ghastly nightmare unfolded before their eyes. The train did not have eight hundred Jews; rather it was packed with three thousand Jews. 

Suddenly, the stark reality became apparent to the women.  Should they give eight hundred people the water they had prepared, and let the rest of the anguished passengers be made to endure unbearable agony? Was it right for some not to receive any water, particularly after having to watch others drink?  The four women had wanted to share a moment of mercy; instead, the moment of mercy had turned into a time of woe. 

Yet there was one woman who would not accept surrender in the face of such an evil challenge. Approaching the Gestapo officer in charge, she quietly, but with great authority, demanded that the officer engage in efforts to help ease the suffering of the prisoners. 

For a protracted moment the German soldier stared at her.  Then the Gestapo officer turned to his aide.  "This woman is from the American Friends Service Committee," he said.  "The Quakers saved our village from starvation after the last war."  "Yes," mumbled the subaltern, "they fed us, too."

And so the Gestapo officer ordered his men to move.  SS men rounded up baskets of food and additional water from shocked villagers; they were performing deeds of mercy.  The suffering Jews received their water and food--from their enemies.

The quiet strength of four Quaker women moved cold-hearted men-indoctrinated to kill-to comfort their enemies.  Likewise Christians, empowered by the quiet strength of the Holy Spirit, have the privilege to help determine the fate of the world, not by defeating people on the battlefield, but by telling human beings about Jesus.

One confusing statement in the Bible for me has always been Matthew 5:5b—"...for they {the meek} shall inherit the earth." What I believe the phrase "inherit the earth" to mean is that Christians have the privilege of participating in the salvation of Humanity. 

To put it another way, when Jesus said, "inherit the earth" he was using imagery from the Old Testament, which the Jews associated with the Kingdom of Heaven.  So when a first century Jew heard Jesus say this, there was a good chance he thought in his mind that he was going to have the opportunity to participate in the infiltration of the Kingdom of God throughout the earth.

I am not a Quaker. I don’t know if Quakers still exist, but those four women almost 70 years ago were definitely participating in Kingdom work on this earth. I would do well to do the same.

Silent Cal

Calvin Coolidge was president of the United States during the roaring twenties. He may best know him for his nickname- “Silent Cal” -given for his taciturn ways.

Probably, the most famous story told about him concerned a formal White House dinner he was giving. A woman attending the dinner told the president, “I bet someone, I could get you to say three words.”

“You lose,” he replied.

A quiet nature can be a quality much desired—just ask my mother.

Prov. 17:28 Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue.

Non-Human Animals

In 1998, a St. Bernard stood accused of savaging a resident of Lincoln, Mass. The owner found an animal-rights attorney to take the case by the name of Steven Wise.

Part of Mr. Wise’s defense was this statement, the dog was “… [A] good dog having a bad day.” He went on to defend his client arguing that the day had come for legal courts to offer full legal rights for “non-human animals.”

Do you think Mr. Wise would be happy with where our society is today?

The Wrong Room

David Sargent wrote a story, a couple of years ago, which caught my attention. A young couple was married on June 6, 1981. Late that evening, after their reception, a bellboy took them into what they thought was their hotel’s elaborate bridal suite. Boy, were they disappointed!

The suite consisted of one room with a sofa and a hide-away-bed. The mattress had knots in it and the springs sagged.

The young couple slept fitfully and awoke with sore backs. The young groom was upset, and he decided to go to the front desk and complain to management.

The explanation he received made him feel sheepish. He returned to his room. There, he opened the door to what he and his new wife had thought was the closet. It wasn’t. It was a beautiful bedroom offering good wishes and gifts from the hotel, including fruit baskets and chocolates.

I know a lot of people who live life like that. Someone has given them exciting expectations. Instead, their experiences fall woefully short. It is because they have not opened God’s door to the abundant life found in Jesus.