So, I am making my way through the Atlanta Airport between terminals. It requires going up and down some steep and reasonably long escalators. I start down one of the escalators and see someone who has stopped at the end of the escalator to look at a map. There are hundreds of people about to crush him if he doesn't get out fo the way. A couple of bumps from others and he realizes what he has done and gets out of the way.
Then, when walking through the terminal I hear the beep-beep-beep of a cart taking passengers to their gates. The cart is being led by a person on a cell phone, talking away as the driver honks the cart's horn. The person on the cell phone is completely oblivious to the cart and continues to walk and talk.
I begin to think: "Is stupid catching?"
Honestly, it isn't uncommon for me to see people doing incredibly stupid things. They drive the wrong way down streets, wear their shirts inside-out and wander the aisles of grocery stores trying to remember why they are there. They forget that their bicycles are attached to the tops of their cars and try to enter parking garages. They go the wrong way through the drive-thru at Chic-fil-a because the restaurant has two drive throughs and they can't reach the window from the one with the shorter line if they went the other way. They tell long stories at funerals which have nothing to do with the deceased. They tell it because it reminds them of a joke that they wanted to tell.
Okay, but I don't think they are stupid. I believe they aren't thinking. I believe they have so much on their mind that they aren't aware of what they are doing. Yet, I also believe it's catching. More and more people aren't thinking. They are distracted from what it important.
Satan distracted Adam and Eve in the Garden. He could get them to disobey God if he change their focus from the God they knew to the god satan made Him out to be. Martha was distracted by all her preparations for a meal although she was in the presence of the Lord Jesus. She missed the most important thing for something that just seemed important.
Nothing has really changed. People are still being distracted. They still fail to notice the really important things that go on. They do not see the consequences of what they are doing.
My first reaction is to tell car manufacturers to place a sign on the dash of every car made: "Think about what you are doing right now." However, I'm afraid it would cause people to think about the sign and forget that they are driving.
Maybe we should all put signs on our bathroom mirrors:"What will I do that will give God glory today?" Maybe that would cause us to think about everything we do.
Think. It isn't that hard once you think about it.
Genesis 3:4-5 (ESV)
4
But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.
5
For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Luke 10:40 (ESV)
40
But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.”
2 comments:
Matt 7:12 - So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
I tend to see such, as people being inconsiderate, not really stupid. In any case, before I go any further, I suggest we avoid labeling people stupid. I know Ps Prentis isn't saying it to the someone, that he or she is stupid, but I still suggest, if possible, refrain, because from indirect sayings, it may sneak into our direct speeches to people. It is just like a pastor or preacher using the "I and my .....(say) brother", instead of "my brother and I" when preaching over the pulpit. Now, it is not a matter of eloquence of speeches, everyone can see that the pastor or preacher is with eloquence, alright. When the person's speech is with broken English, here and there, we know and understand, and when he makes that mistake of using "I and ....", we can understand, but when that "I and ...." comes from a preacher or senior pastor even, who talks smooth flow of English, it is such bad projection. Now, if you do not know what I talking about, or what is so bad about using "I and .....", it either tells on you, or it tells on the community you are in - "the what's catching on". The "I" as in SIN is "catching on", and the "O" as in the SON or Others, is relegated to the back. People are increasingly self-centered, and think little of others. If you are a believer of the SON of God, you have to be always mindful of others. When you use "I and my brother", you are putting yourself first, instead of others, your brother, in this case. And when it comes from the Senior Pastor of a church, it is really NOT good. What do you do? I went to tell it to him, my Senior Pastor.
Oh, the entry is not about "I and ....(say) my brother"; yes, about that word, "stupid". If you talk to a good teacher, he or she will tell you, not to label a child, for that matter, any person, stupid. At the worst, say, "it is a stupid thing to do", but don't say the person is stupid. Now, if I hear a teacher labeling a student, stupid, I will not hesitate to confront the teacher. I feel so sad when mothers use it on their domestic maid, labeling the maid stupid, in front of the children; we should not do that, it is very mean. Do you expect your child to then listen to the stupid maid, that you labeled her such?! Or do you not know that your child will also pick that up as the lingo, and start calling others, stupid! Pastors, you know why I resent you using, "I and ....", yah, your sheep will follow, and they will say, "The senior pastor also uses it like that-what!" As a believer, all the more, we are to recognize the power of our tongue/mouth; we are to speak blessing and life, and not curses and death. The other side of the coin is true of the Matt 7:12, "don't do (including labeling) unto others, what you don't want others to do unto you."
Perhaps, the entry is not really about stupidity, and I have merely taken the opportunity to speak on these two subjects of calling people stupid, and the self-centeredness that can read into the use of "I and ....." instead of "so-and-so and I". Really, most of the daily lives examples showed that people are being inconsiderate (one or two, absent-mindedness or forgetful). And when those people are believers, they ought to know they are to deny themselves, and carry the cross, daily. Denying self means we don't put ourselves, first; put Christ, first, put our neighbors, first, put other people, first; and put the common good, first. Actually, in many of these situations, the people were not stupid, they were sly! Perhaps, a stupid thing to do, is to put an egg, directly, into the microwave oven to cook! Don't try it.
And I say, "Don't try it".
Anthony Chia, high.expressions
:) Loved this post. It made me snicker as I thought of the several times I've tried to get out of the car before unbuckling my seat belt. sigh. .
So glad you clarified that I am distracted and not stupid. Although remembering the lol of my husband from the driver's seat, makes me wonder if he'd buy the distinction. :}
This post also made me think of the problem of church dinners and the Marthas who repeatedly skip out on the worship service to tend to said dinners.
You may want to print this up on a poster and hang it on the kitchen door: "Martha was distracted by all her preparations for a meal although she was in the presence of the Lord Jesus. She missed the most important thing for something that just seemed important."
It strikes me that, perhaps, the kitchen workers don't actually believe that they ARE in the "presence of the Lord Jesus" during the church's worship service.
Well, that's not a pleasant thought, is it? But I just don't think that anyone of them would walk out on the King to go heat up a meatloaf, you know?
Hmmm. There's a sermon in there, I think...
Deb
Post a Comment