The great thing about having small children around is you have a great excuse to watch cartoons again. Well, I'll own up here. I watched them even before I had a grandchild. One cartoon that I am particularly fond of is Garfield the Cat. There is a great humor in those sarcastic witticisms of his. One cold winter night Garfield looks out the window and sees Odie the Dog peering through the window. Garfield thinks to himself: This is horrible. Here I am in the comfort of a warm house, well fed, and there is Odie outside begging to get in, cold and hungry. I can't stand it anymore. I just can't stand it. So, at that he goes over to the window ... and closes the curtains.
Lloyd Ogilvie tells of a father who knelt to tuck his little boy into bed. It was time for prayers and hugs. The little boy began his childhood prayer which he had repeated so many times before: "Now I lay me down to sleep; I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take." On this night, however, the words got mixed up and the child inadvertently spoke words of the greatest wisdom he would ever know. He prayed: "If I should wake before I die," then he stopped in embarrassment and apologized, "Oh, Daddy, I got all mixed up." Wisely, his father responded, "Not at all, son; that is the first time that prayer was properly prayed. My deepest longing for you is that you may wake up before you die."
Friends, that is what you and I have done to the poor. Rather than dealing with them, we have simply closed the curtains. We drive by people holding those signs: "Will work for food," and we have seen it so much we don't even give it a second thought anymore. My friends, my deepest longing for each of us is that we may wake up before we die.
Peace,
Skip
• • •
Pastor James "Skip" French is the pastor of Highland Christian Church, 1500 Forest Hills Blvd., Bella Vista. Opinions expressed are those of the author.