Potted Meat Won't Fly

Heard this story at the cafe recently. A couple of locals on vacation were trying to catch their flight when one of them was tagged by airport security. There was a problem with some of his carry-on baggage. They brought out the supervisor. They brought out the manual. After much scratching of heads and furious debate, they decided: "You can take the sardines on the flight, but not the potted meat." This begs the question, "Huh??" Now I know that outside the South, not a lot of people are aware of the joys of "lips and tips" (my dad's description of "redneck pate"), and maybe they thought that it was a fake product disguising a bomb, but it's really hard to understand how - and why! - they made this decision. Did they think the potted meat can would make a better missile? "Nobody move, or I'll thunk you in the head!" Were they moon-lighting as cholesterol cops? "Do you know why we stopped you, Sir? Do you have any idea what this stuff will do to your arteries?" Maybe they were afraid he was planning to eat it on the plane: "We're concerned that the stench might create a panic by making the oxygen masks fall down."As bureaucratic intelligence goes, I would have to say that this was not their finest hour. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel! Matthew 23:24 Of course, security trolls aren't the only ones capable of making such, well, goofy decisions. Jesus ran into a group of religious professionals called Pharisees that boggled even His mind. For example, to avoid accidentally swallowing tiny unclean insects, they would always pour their wine from the jug through a piece of cloth into a cup. This actually makes pretty good sense to those of us who have lived in a bug-intensive environment, but in the image Jesus is painting, it's as if they were getting their wine out of a vat that had a dead camel floating in it. No puny little cloth was going to filter that taste out! In the world of airline security, it really REALLY shouldn't be about deciding between sardines and potted meat, but about intercepting real threats to the lives and safety of everyone involved - and since we haven't had any more planes flying into buildings, maybe they are doing a better job than we give them credit for. And maybe, just maybe, we should be more concerned about deeper issues than having our religious sensibilities irritated by the trivial. The Pharisees could put on a good show of "religion" even while despising their neighbor. They were great at nit-picking, not so good at getting to the heart of God and the things that please Him. Let's not make the same mistakes, but put into practice those things that are near and dear to His heart! He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8 ​​​​​​​​

Got Worms?

The serpent said to the woman, “You won’t surely die, for God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:4-5 Heard a friend of mine quoting "an anonymous source" (couldn't remember who said it): All the Devil's apples got worms! We all laughed (and wrote it down. Good, clear, pithy statements are rare enough that we should share them when we find them.) I immediately began to think about apple polishing. No matter how carefully the outside of the apple is buffed, no matter how artistically displayed, if it's got a worm, the inside is being corrupted. Nobody wants to be the butt of the "Worst Kind of Worm To Find in an Apple" joke. (A half of one. Rimshot.) No, the flavor and value of any fruit is compromised by the presence of the vermiform, and the devil always makes it first priority to insert a corrupting influence. But then it occurred to me. These weren't the Devil's apples, but God's! (And yes, I know the Bible doesn't say "apples", but "fruit". Go pick your nits on your own time.) In The Screwtape Letters, CS Lewis notes that the Devil doesn't create anything but misery. In this case, he doesn't even possess anything. He only suggests. He suggests that God (!) is deceptive and is actually withholding something, and implies that Eve would be better off by choosing rebellion. We all know how well THAT worked out, don't we? No, this worm wasn't even in the "apple", it was in the Trust/Faith of Eve. She was tempted by the peculiar idea that somehow God wasn't good - enough. This particular weapon in the Devil's arsenal was so effective, he still uses it, and hardly ever has to use another one. Every time we face temptation, at it's heart it's the same old same old. "This moment of pleasure and self-indulgence will be far better than the result of resisting. If God didn't want us to do it, He shouldn't have made it so enjoyable." It's that kind of bogus thinking that keeps us destroying our lives with the deeds of the flesh instead of enriching them with the fruit of the Spirit. (Galatians 5:19-23 Keep up, people.) But I am afraid that somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve in his craftiness, so your minds might be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 2 Corinthians 11:3 Everything the Devil tempts us with has the Worm of Rebellion in it. You're probably thinking, "But I don't feel rebellious!" Despite what Obi Wan and Yoda preach, your feelings are never the best guide to truth. If you are doing something God said "NO!" about, that Worm is already corrupting the most precious thing in life - your relationship with the Lord. Break out the only effective spiritual pesticide: Devotion to Christ by Faith. And no matter how strong that temptation is, remember: All the Devil's apples got worms!