May 3, 2021
We start the day with birthday greetings to our grandson, Mac Herrington. 12 years old today!
Have a great day, Mac! Love, Pappy!
👉 The above mentioned birthday boy asked his mom the other day about the curious right side mirror on their car which has a legend written across the bottom of it: “Objects in mirror are closer than they appear.” The Quarantine Blog has been asked to satisfy the young man’s curiosity.
Actually it is a careful design choice made with safety in mind. The complicated answer has to do with light and reflection and refraction and more than I know, but simply, the passenger mirror is slightly curved (it’s convex, or bowed outward in the center, and curves back on the sides). The driver side mirror is not shaped the same way – it’s flat. A convex mirror reduces the driver’s blind spots on that side of the vehicle by presenting a wider field of view, but it also makes other cars appear farther away due to a slight distortion caused by the shape.
So Mac, when you are driving the “Silver Bullet” in 4 years, don’t just stare straight ahead, use your mirrors, and turn your head to get a good look, too.
👉 And a birthday present for the afore mentioned Mr. Herrington – the Bad Batch premiers tomorrow on Disney +. What, or who is the Bad Batch, you ask?
Hunter. Tech. Crosshair. Wrecker. Echo. This is experimental unit “Clone Force 99,” the baddest batch of clone troopers you’ll ever meet. Each member of this elite group adds their own exceptional skill to form a team unlike any other in the Republic. The Bad Batch’s missions have a 100% success rate due to their unusual tactics and precise teamwork. They don’t fight for accolades or recognition, but for the thrill of a job well done and countless lives saved.
👉 U.S. Catholic bishops will hold their next national meeting in June. At issue will be a document which will aim to clarify the church’s stance on whether or not public officials who refuse to support church doctrine, should be allowed to take communion. The specific issue is public advocacy of abortion rights, and the message will be pointed at President Joe Biden. Church officials say the issue has taken on new urgency now, because Biden – only the second Catholic president – is the first to hold that office while espousing clear-cut support for abortion rights. Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City says such a stance, by a public figure, is “a grave moral evil . . . How can he say he’s a devout Catholic and he’s doing these things that are contrary to the church’s teaching?”
👉 In other news, today is National Lumpy Rug Day. Remember when that old lumpy rug in your living room used to be smooth and comfy to walk on? Do you find yourself tripping on it now? Well, today you are in luck because National Lumpy Rug Day is a day to toss out that rug and get a new one. There can be a broader view of the day as well. It can be a day for spring cleaning in general. Not only could you replace your lumpy rug, but you could mop the floors, vacuum carpets, clean sinks and countertops, and get everything else in your house ready to go for warmer weather.
👉 Brian and Elizabeth sent me a great story. QB looks for origin stories, and the meanings behind phrases, and this one fits right into that collection.
If you were in the market for a watch in 1880, would you know where to get one? You could go to a store, of course, but if you wanted one that was cheaper and a bit better than most of the store watches, you went to the train station!
The railroad company wasn’t selling the watches, the telegraph operator was. Most of the station agents were skilled telegraph operators and it was the primary way they communicated with the railroad. They would know when trains left the previous station and when they were due at their next station. And it was the telegraph operator who had the watches. As a matter of fact, they sold more of them than almost all the stores combined for a period of about 9 years.
This was all arranged by “Richard,” who was a telegrapher himself. He was on duty in the North Redwood, Minnesota train station one day when a crate of pocket watches arrived from the East. No one ever came to claim them. So Richard sent a telegram to the manufacturer and asked them what they wanted to do with the watches. The manufacturer didn’t want to pay the freight back, so they wired Richard to see if he could sell them.
He sent a wire to every agent in the system asking them if they wanted a cheap, but good, pocket watch. He sold the entire case in less than two days and at a handsome profit. He ordered more watches and encouraged the telegraph operators to set up a display case in the station. It worked.
Before long, Richard became so busy that he had to hire a professional watchmaker. His name was “Alvah.” The business took off and soon expanded to many other lines of dry goods. Richard and Alvah left the train station and moved their company to Chicago.
For a while in the 1880s, the biggest watch retailer in the country was at the train station. It all started with a telegraph operator: Richard Sears and partner Alvah Roebuck. But sadly, as of January 30, 2021, there were only 36 Sears department stores in operation.
👉 Today’s sermon from the Crawfordville Pulpit is “The Strange Strategy of God.”
👉 Today’s close is from Jeff Schreve.
“Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away” (James 4:14).
Have you ever noticed how we tend to bank on tomorrow? A few years ago, I conducted the funeral of a friend of mine. He was one of my basketball buddies, and we played together quite often. One Sunday afternoon, David was playing ball at the playground. After a made basket, he turned to run down court and fell down in a heap. He suffered a massive heart attack and was dead before he hit the ground. He was 42 years old and seemingly in good shape.
God does not promise us tomorrow. Our lives are a vapor, a puff of smoke. Like the morning fog that rolls in and rolls out, so is the brevity of life. Because life is so brief and tomorrow is not promised, it is critical to make the most of today.
God has given us “today.” That is all we have. So make every day count. As the poem says, “Only one life will soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.”
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Life is a precious gift that is separated from the hereafter by one heartbeat. Make every heartbeat count.
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