LITTERBUGS

 Last year when we moved into our new home in the Oaks on Parkwood, we were very pleased with the manicured lawns and roadways of the complex. But I was shocked by the amount of litter on the approach road, Parkwood.  When it became apparent that the county would not be picking up litter on the roadway, I decided to informally adopt the roadway from Highway 150 to the entrance of the Oaks, a one man litter patrol. I bought a grappler and spend an hour or two each week picking up litter. I haven’t covered the whole stretch yet, because each week a bag full of new litter appears on the areas I have already worked. Alabama, like all other states, has a law against littering, but such laws are hard to enforce.

This experience has caused me to reflect on the character of people who throw trash out of a vehicle’s window. Liz has wished for a sign that says “Please Do Not Litter.” Such a sign would do no good with people who have no problem with littering. Not knowing who these people are, I have a strong opinion on what they are. First, they have no respect for the law. Second, they do not care for their neighbors or for others, else they would not foul the environment. Third, they are very self centered doing what they want to do regardless of the result. I don’t make assumptions about their religious condition. But if they are Christians they have forgotten the “Golden Rule” of Jesus; “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” (Luke 6:31) I wonder how these would feel if someone could gather all the litter they have ever thrown out of a vehicle window and dump it in their yard.

So, please, put it in a trash can, a litter barrel or take it home with you. 

Grace and Peace

LIFE IS LIKE A VAPOR

James, in his letter, gives us a perspective on life. In James 4:13-14 he writes: “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit; ’whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’” We need to live each day with the awareness that that day may be our last.

A friend and fellow church member was going to visit his mother on his motorcycle. He had in mind where he would go after that. He probably had in mind tentative plans for the next day, and the next week. But someone pulled an automobile into his path and the collision took his life. I feel certain that John Veazey had his life and his spirituality in order and was ready to be ushered into the next life. But I doubt he expected it to be on Friday. Our sympathy goes out to his family. And though he surely sorrows to be parted from them, I know that his life beyond life is one of rewards and joy.

We all need to make plans, keep a calendar, and honor future commitments. Life would be chaotic without so doing. But the question for all of us is, do our plans for our activities have a place for interruption? For one day, hopefully far into the future, we shall transition from this life into the next, some gradually and some suddenly. We need to be sure we are in the Lord’s hands when it happens. 

Grace and Peace