Monday Morning Rant 25

We start today with everyone’s favorite complaint: What’s with the weather man? If anything has remained unchanged over the entirety of my life, it has to be weather reporting. Don’t they have windows in the buildings where they broadcast? We get constant threats for every possible condition possible with rare actuality. The snow which is to cover the ground to a depth of 5-8” barely sticks to the walks and the driveway. The roses wilt for lack of the promised rain. Golf is routinely interrupted by a storm of epic proportions which was shown as a 5% chance of showers.

On my internet under the weather folder are seven different links to cover every aspect of the ever changing climate. I have a choice of county radar, regional radar covering about a hundred surrounding counties, Southern Plains coverage of about five states and of course national coverage with at least a dozen different reporting formats. The historical records are available back decades. All in all, my personal resources, and yours are vastly better than anything we could have imagined forty years ago. So, if I have all that expertise at my fingertips why can’t I figure out what’s going to happen as well as the weather guy?

The possibility exists that God chooses to keep a few surprises for all of us. After all, He will do what He will. My next project had better be to learn more about acceptance. He allows us to learn about the generalities of our existence but keeps a few of the specifics up his sleeve. I find that life is easier when I accept that which He has the grace to deliver without complaint and even a measure of joy. So I invite you to join me and take it as it comes and we can all rejoice that He gives us a huge variety to keep us on our toes.
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This is a “grin” I picked up from the American Legion magazine:

“Greta was an old, grandmotherly type. She was well known for her faith and talking about it. Every morning she would go out on the front porch and shout, 'Praise the Lord!' Her next door neighbor would shout back, 'There ain’t no Lord!'
Greta was very poor, so the neighbor decided to prove his point by buying a large bag of groceries and placing it at her door. The next morning she went to the porch, and seeing the groceries, she shouted, 'Praise the Lord!'
The neighbor stepped out from behind a tree in the yard and said, 'I bought those groceries, and there ain’t no Lord.'
Greta smiled and shouted, 'Lord, you not only sent me food but you made the devil pay for it!'”
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I’m not certain who said this but I heard it again Sunday: “God is as close as you’ll let him come.” I mulled it over and over in my mind and my thoughts went to a time in my life when I kept Him at arm’s length. Like an unwelcome guest, He was there but never received a wholehearted greeting. It was as though He was an unappreciated brother-in-law. You know what I mean. On the heels of the recent holiday occasions you have probably been drawn together with some members of the family who don’t rate that high on your list. You are polite, on your best behavior and making an earnest attempt to be nice but it just doesn’t quite come off. To not offend others, you offer what you think is your best and resent it. Some, including me at one time, were like that.

I have found one of the great treasures of the knowledge of the Savior is His willingness to allow the repentant sinner to be as close as He chooses. It is reminiscent of the famous painting with Christ at the door which has no latch on the outside. It may only be opened from within. When we make that approach and become close to Him we find a willing friend and mentor. We also find diminished fears, warmer friends, and the freedom to enjoy what we have become in His favor. I thank Him daily for being available for me and others and sharing His marvelous gifts.

In His abiding love,

Cecil Moon