P.S. With apologies to hard-working hospital ER workers, this warning: if you don’t have an illness or disease when you must sit in the waiting room, or lie on gurneys, for hours at a time—two nights out of three—you likely WILL before you leave.
Now, to conclude this 2-parter....all taken from the San Diego Union-Tribune. Fourth, Fred Basset, the dog exits his house barking freely, even joyously. When called by name, he retreats into the house. He hadn’t made a good start; he had broken his New Year’s resolution to stop barking just for the joy of barking. 1/1/19 Comment. Maybe we should just put more substance into our resolution to stop complaining, criticizing, contesting...and whatever else makes relationships difficult or toxic. Fifth, Hagar the Horrible. A locked castle door stymies our favorite Viking. He called for his personal locksmith. After watching him work overtime on the project, Hagar demands an explanation. The underling admits he can’t do the job but loves to eavesdrop. 12/31/18 Comment. Incompetent as we are serving Jesus, we can’t afford to divert our best efforts in discipleship into extraneous, often irrelevant, sometimes dangerous, contingencies. Sixth, Marmaduke. A classic. The lovable rascal lies on a vet’s table, being examined. The unspoken conversation centered on the dog’s overweight problem. Which he didn’t like. The picture has him looking sternly at and patting the vet’s protruding tummy, as if to say, “You shouldn’t lecture me.” Leading the vet to riposte that he, not the dog, gave the advice. 12/31/18 Comment. Jesus told his people to listen and obey whatever teachers of the Law taught. However, they should be careful not to follow their behavior Matthew 23:1-4. A doctor may not live his diagnosis, but that doesn’t diminish its value. Professional knowledge, not personal lifestyle, is his strength. Every preacher knows that his example can diminish the value of his message. (Though Jesus doesn’t allow that as an excuse.) Since all Christians are sinners saved by grace, those falling into sin—even leaders—should be corrected and restored gently. For those correcting can soon be the corrected Galatians 6:1-5. Fini
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You know the news is irrelevant, irritating or unwelcome when you get illustrations from the comics. Nevertheless, cartoonists sometimes have an eye for reality that our “politically correct” society refuses to face. Mallard Filmore is one. I offer the following examples today from 1/1/19 San Diego U-T.
First, Classic Peanuts. Lucy and Schroeder discuss getting married. He has always said he would never marry her. She asks some reasons. First, she’s crabby. Second, she’s bossy. She replies in astonishment that he considers them reasons. Comment. No one wants a crabby mate. But if males waited to find a “non-bossy” woman, who would ever have a wife? Second, Marmaduke. While she freely criticizes the dizzy dog in this cartoon, Phil’s wife thanked him profusely for finding a paper on the floor and chewing it to pieces. And why? Because it contained all her New Year’s resolutions. Comment. What a great idea: make resolutions and find ways to discard them. Most of us need no help breaking a resolution, but it’s nice to know an outsider exists to “lose” them without our “breaking” them. Third, Garfield. The insufferable cat—aren’t all felines insufferable?—sets in his box hugging his Pooky bear. The cat notes that life has both ups and downs. Flat on his back in the third frame—his favorite position—he says that position was “UP”. Comment. We’ve all seen bumper stickers. The “Garfield” kind says, “I’d rather be in the sack.” With Americans being some of the most exhausted people in the world, maybe that should be our national slogan. Or, “exhausted but refusing to slow down.” End Part I |
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