CLEVER BOY

I sat there looking around, pondering, trying to choose. Like a kid in a candy store, I didn’t know which one to choose. I have pages of lines of posts I want to write about, but like a spoiled child, as I sifted through the aisles of candy I wanted the one that wasn’t there… I wanted the one that would be different, fun!

As I sat in the window seat of the airplane, I decided I would boldly start writing a post, then cleverly ask the guy sitting next to me, whom I wouldn’t share the armrest with, some really tough questions! – That would be better than any other piece of candy I could think of!

I smiled inside as I thought of some really stumping questions… My neighbor for an hour and a half would be speechless, I could almost hear him answer, “Huh… Huh…. Ummmmm…” I thought I’d start with, “Can you tell me what the best thing that has ever happened to you is?” Perfect! Only a videotape could be any better!

I thought of another, “What’s the best thing you’ve ever done?” He would be so totally against the ropes! The questions to stump my closer than comfortable neighbor continued. “What would people who know you say about you?… What has been or would you say your life’s legacy would be?”

As I thought of more questions the fun was leaving me… I was subconsciously asking myself those questions until I realized it and asked them consciously… I decided it wasn’t such a grand idea after all… How could I ask him or anyone in this world hard questions that I struggle to articulate myself, even if only inside my head?

It didn’t take long for the smile and the direction of this post to change… I started sounding like the Nutty Professor inside my head, arguing with myself. I asked myself those questions… I struggled just like I wanted the neighbor I was hoping to ambush. One side of the brain talked, the other side responded.

“Well, I’ve done some pretty good stuff!”

“Stop justifying your actions – It’s not becoming!”

“Okay, you’re right… Okay… Huh… Huhh… Ummmm… What’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me?”

My mind went blank… Too many questions…

I threw myself off with the questions about me…  That’s the problem with all things in this life; if it’s about us, or the answer starts with us, it won’t be a gratifying answer. The answer to all the questions starts at the beginning. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

Our new beginning is the day we grasp that it’s all about the grace of God to save our eternal souls. The answers to all the questions I’d planned to stump my unsuspecting fellow traveler with are all the same… It is about Him first, “All good things come from Your hand.”

Regardless of the long answer, that’s a Mighty fine place to start.

That’s what I get for trying to be a clever boy…