I confess that I like to read about and watch TV shows that talk about stupid criminals. There is the guy that tried to break into a home near Christmas by attempting to slide down an old chimney, only to get stuck halfway down. Another guy tried to rob a convenience store with a squirt gun, the owner had a real gun. And it’s always fun to watch what happens to people who try to steal an ATM machine (usually the attempt to remove it from its concrete base results in the “pulling” vehicle losing its rear bumper or even back axle). There are books out about how stupid people can be. The Darwin Awards has the stories of people who do the most foolish things and frequently end up paying for it with their lives. For me the most memorable story from the books is about the man that “super-glued” his hands to the back end of a rhinoceros at the zoo. You have to ask…What was he thinking?! I’m reminded of the joke “What was the redneck’s last words?” “Hey, ya’ll watch this.” We laugh, but are we really that far behind these folks? There’s a reason why the warning says to never lick a moving blender. Nearly every day we pilot 1,500 pounds of steel at breakneck speeds, often going within a few feet of others doing the same thing. That’s right, we drive cars… and in the midst of our piloting these vehicles at 102 ft per second (70 mph), we also look down to change the radio station, to read a newspaper, unwrap our sausage biscuit, send a text, and clean up the coffee we spilled. If it takes you 3 seconds to grab that hash brown from the bag…you’ve traveled over a football field without looking at the road. Eating your Chinese carry-out with chopsticks….probably not the best choice (ahem!),
We are a busy people, and we like to multi-task. We talk on the phone and try to read our email at the same time. We try to cook, and watch the news, and ask our kids how the day was. We are a busy people and it causes us to make bad choices, or make compromises. We know what fried food will do to us…but it is still American’s favorite meal. Hamburgers, fries, fried chicken, fried fish, fried Oreos, funnel cake, fried candy bars (can you tell the State Fair is coming?). We know we need balance in our lives – work, play, worship, family, friends – they all need a place in our lives. We know what is good, but we are easily distracted. We chase after the wrong things. Micah 6:8 helps put things in perspective: He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. So maybe we should take a lesson from the folks who get trapped in chimneys and glue themselves to rhinoceroses, let’s choose to do what is right.
Chad