June 26, 2020
Because I write these blogs a day early, unless something catches my eye on the morning I post it, you may already have heard a news item that I put in. That is the case today. But nevertheless, I want to ask a question: When is a noose not a noose? Answer: when it is a garage door pull.
A statement issued by U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town said the investigation had concluded and that no federal crime had been committed. “The FBI learned that garage number 4, where the noose was found, was assigned to Bubba Wallace last week. The investigation also revealed evidence, including authentic video confirmed by NASCAR, that the noose found in garage number 4 was in that garage as early as October 2019,” the bureau said. “Although the noose is now known to have been in garage number 4 in 2019, nobody could have known Mr. Wallace would be assigned to garage number 4 last week.”
NASCAR said in a release after the findings, “The FBI report concludes, and photographic evidence confirms, that the garage door pull rope fashioned like a noose had been positioned there since as early as last fall.”
What kind of world are we living in when a garage pull would be immediately seen by a black man as a threat to him? And what kind of world are we living in when someone would make a garage pull that looks like a noose and leave it up for a year?
I understand I am a white man crying in the wilderness, but could we go back to Genesis 1:26 – “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.’” The writer of Genesis said we were made in the image of the Triune God. Not a word about the color of His creation.
It has been almost 60 years since Martin Luther King said, “I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” It doesn’t seem like we are any closer today than we were on August 28, 1963. People of every color seem to be saying that their color is the paramount color. There will never be healing until we get beyond that. Our hearts have to change.
👉 Texas paused its reopening process and moved to free up hospital space for coronavirus patients on Thursday amid growing concern over its rising tally of cases. The state has recorded more than 130,000 cases and nearly 3,000 of us have died. More than 4,300 people with the virus are hospitalized across the state, more than double the number at the beginning of June. Texas is one of 29 states where case numbers have been rising. The United States reported its largest one-day total since the start of the pandemic on Wednesday: 36,880 new cases, more than two months after the previous high. The resurgence is concentrated largely in the South and West. Florida, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas reported their highest single-day totals on Wednesday.
👉 We had a good, steady rain Thursday morning, the kind that soaks in and doesn’t immediately run off into the storm drains. Makes the grass green and the flowers sparkle. And it got me thinking, as it usually does, about “rain” songs. Here are a few, and let me know if I’ve missed any. A website called Spinditty lists 153, but that doesn’t count – just from your memory, and mine.
“I Can See Clearly Now, the Rain has Gone” by Johnny Nash https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkwJ-g0iJ6w
“Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head” from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYwhvD2-fYw
“Rainy Night in Georgia” by Brook Benton https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjp53tZcVuI
“Singing in the Rain” from the movie of the same name with Gene Kelly https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1ZYhVpdXbQ
“Rainy Days and Mondays” by The Carpenters https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPmbT5XC-q0
👉 Return with us now to those thrilling days of yester year ... oops wrong intro.
A thunder of jets in an open sky, a streak of grey and a cheerful “Hi!” A loop, a whirl, and a vertical climb, and once again you’ll know it’s time for Rocky and His Friends. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7xa8dOAHxU That was the Rocky and Bullwinkle introduction when the show premiered in 1959.
Here is the first episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtdpVKpl8qY&list=PLOgB1w7frU8-qJUbl2isxeHjqwH_28Am0 Twenty minutes without commercials.
Another regular feature of Rocky and Bullwinkle was “Fractured Fairy Tales” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6bwyILxtYA Watch this one, think “fake news” and enjoy.
👉 Today’s close, “A Lesson in Humility” is by Max Lucado.
Jesus… made Himself of no reputation… He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
Philippians 2:5, 7–8
Deflating inflated egos is so important to God that He offers to help.
He helped me. I recently spent a week on a book tour. We saw long lines and crowded stores. One person after another complimented me. For three days I bathed in the river of praise. I began to believe the accolades. All these people can’t be wrong. I must be God’s gift to readers. My chest puffed so much I could hardly see where to autograph the books. Why, had I been born two thousand years earlier, we might read the gospels of Matthew, Max, Luke, and John. About the time I wondered if the Bible needed another epistle, God shot an arrow of humility in my direction.
We were running late for an evening book signing, late because the afternoon signing had seen such long lines. We expected the same at the next store. Concerned, we phoned ahead. “We are running behind. Tell all the people we’ll arrive soon.”
“No need to hurry,” the store manager assured.
“What about the people?”
“Neither one seems to be in a hurry.”
Neither one?
By the time we reached the store, thankfully, the crowd of two people had tripled to six. We had scheduled two hours for the signing; I needed ten minutes.
Self-conscious about sitting alone at the table, I peppered the last person with questions. We talked about her parents, school, Social Security number, favorite birthday party. Against my pleadings, she had to go. So I sat alone at the table. Big stack of Lucado books, no one in line.
I asked the store manager, “Did you advertise?”
“We did. More than usual.” She walked off.
The next time she passed I asked, “Had other signings?”
“Yes, usually we have a great response,” and kept going.
I signed all the books at my table. I signed all the Lucado books on the shelves. I signed Tom Clancy and John Grisham books. Finally a customer came to the table. “You write books?” he asked, picking up the new one.
“I do. Want me to sign it?”
“No thanks,” he answered and left.
God hit his target. Lest I forget, my daily reading the next morning had this passage: “Do not be wise in your own eyes” (Prov. 3:7).
When you’re full of yourself, God can’t fill you.
But when you empty yourself, God has a useful vessel.
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