7/31/2013
CONSIDER THE LILY
GOAFS II: #53
CONSIDER THE LILY
JULY 31 2013
The steadfast love of the Lord
never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
The Lord is my portion, says my
soul,
therefore I will hope in him.
The Lord is good to those who
wait for him,
to the soul who seeks him.
Lamentations 3.22-25
JERRY SWEERS
cmudgeon@windstream.net
JERRY SWEERS
cmudgeon@windstream.net
7/24/2013
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO US!
GOAFS II: #52
HAPPY WEDDING
ANNIVERSARY TO US!
Joan & jerry sweers
JULY 24, 2013
Bethany Chapel
Wheaton Illinois
July 24,1954
An
excellent wife who can find?
She is far more precious than jewels.
The
heart of her husband trusts in her,
and he will have no lack of gain.
She
does him good, and not harm,
all the days of her life.
She
seeks wool and flax,
and works with willing hands.
She
is like the ships of the merchant;
she brings her food from afar.
She
rises while it is yet night
and provides food for her household
and portions for her maidens.
She
considers a field and buys it;
with the fruit of her hands she plants a
vineyard.
She
dresses herself with strength
and makes her arms strong.
She
perceives that her merchandise is profitable.
Her lamp does not go out at night.
She
puts her hands to the distaff,
and her hands hold the spindle.
She
opens her hand to the poor
and reaches out her hands to the needy.
She
is not afraid of snow for her household,
for all her household are clothed in scarlet.
She
makes bed coverings for herself;
her clothing is fine linen and purple.
Her
husband is known in the gates
when he sits among the elders of the
land.
She
makes linen garments and sells them;
she delivers sashes to the merchant.
Strength
and dignity are her clothing,
and she laughs at the time to come.
She
opens her mouth with wisdom,
and the teaching of kindness is on her
tongue.
She
looks well to the ways of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her
children rise up and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
“Many
women have done excellently,
but you surpass them all.”
Charm
is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be
praised.
Give
her of the fruit of her hands,
and let her works praise her in the gates.
Proverbs 31.10-31
On a hot, muggy afternoon in Bethany Chapel at Wheaton
Illinois, 59 years ago today, I married one of these. I still praise her every
day.
JERRY SWEERS
cmudgeon@windstream.net
7/16/2013
PINT SIZE BARBARIANS AT THE GATE
GOAFS II: #51
Pint size barbarians at the
gate
JULY 17, 2013
One of our favorite places for lunch in Lexington is
Joe Bologna’s Restaurant and Pizzeria, on Maxwell Street downtown. We have been
going there since 1992 when we first arrived in town. The building was erected
in 1891 by the 1st Presbyterian Church and was rededicated as a
Synagogue in 1912. In 1989 the building was remodeled to provide space for a
restaurant. Much of the original church and synagogue was preserved. 41 of the
stained glass windows remain, the bar is now where the pulpit was, the chandeliers
and general layout were retained. The food is good, the prices are reasonable,
and Joe, the owner provides on-site adult supervision that has insured the
quality all these years.
In the
hallway between what was the original social hall and the sanctuary there are
folding chairs and some pew seats. As we arrived the other day there was a
struggle going on there—a young mother had her little boy by the hand and was
trying to determine the reason for the nervous breakdown he was having. He was
somewhere between 3 & 4 years old and carrying on like his world had just
ended. He was crying, hyperventilating and whining—she was trying to talk to
him and find out what was wrong. As we passed by I heard the issue—it wasn’t
the black olives he was objecting to, nor any of the other food ordered, it was
being told that they had no cinnamon rolls and there was just no way he was going
to get one.
The young mother was patient but firm and he was clearly
on the edge as we went by them and into the restaurant. A little later I went
out to the bathroom and he was sitting in the corner of the pew, looking grim
and undefeated, considering his options. His mother sat a few feet away, waiting
patiently for the last storm clouds to move on and the sun to come out.
I have to guess what happened next. In any case, when
we finally finished our lunch about 40 minutes later and came out she was just bringing
him back into the building from outside. It appears she had taken him to the
car and spanked him. As they came through the front door she was commending him
on getting his act together and being ready to finish lunch. He still looked
grim but it appeared she had won the battle.
She hesitated, holding the door for him, and I caught
her eye. She said to me, “I have two more like this.” I whispered to her,,
“hang in there, Mom, its never too early to hold your ground.” She gave me a
big smile and we all went on about our business.
This reminded me of something Thomas A. Kempis
observed in “The Imitation of Christ,”
“An old habit is with difficulty abandoned.”
He is referring to Jeremiah 13.23:
“Can people change the color of their skin, or a leopard remove its spots?
If they could, then you that do nothing but evil could learn to do what is
right.”
He expands on this in another place:
“We are too much holden by our own passions, and too much troubled about
transitory things, we seldom overcome even one vice perfectly; and are not set
on fire to grow better every day; therefore we remain cold and lukewarm.”
I cannot quote statistics but it is my firm belief
that for every serial killer whose conduct is excused by improper potty
training, there are 10,000 ordinary people on the street whose selfishness,
self-centeredness, and potential for troublemaking can be traced directly to
the fact that they were not taught the meaning of “no” by the time they were
two years old.
Take a walk through any supermarket or retail store,
or any mall, and you will see many pint-sized tyrants making life miserable for
their parents and everyone around them. If there is anything worse than an
adult who thinks he is god and knows for himself the difference between good
and evil, it is a three year old who was born with that mindset and whose
parents have done nothing but bow and scrape to him or her ever since. The
first job of parenting is civilizing young barbarians. It requires love, hard
work, persistence, and great wisdom—and there is far too little of it going on
these days—this young mother is the exception, not the rule.
I commend this mother who insists that if her little
boy is to eat with civilized people, he must act like a civilized person,
communicate clearly and obey quietly, without having fits or tantrums or other
displays of total lack of discipline. Hang in there Mom, the future of western
civilization is in your loving, patient, and firm hands.
JERRY SWEERS
cmudgeon@windstream.net
