Manic, But Reflective

5/4/2020

This is the week we start to expand our store hours back toward normal. We’ve been open by appointment only on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and this week the plan is to add a day, Wednesday. (Sigh) It’s an improvement, that’s for sure. My rather strange SIMH today was “Just Another Manic Monday” (an old R&R song by a female group.) When I pulled it up and listened to the lyrics, rather 70s-80s lines and intent as they were, I glanced down the “comments” list and found the far reaching effect of the COVID-19 mess: A nurses’ group of frontline workers have adopted this as their theme song. Manic? showing wild, apparently deranged, excitement and energy ?? Well, maybe it does fit as a theme.

I have certainly enjoyed the current series of Bible class messages I’m doing (does that sound strange?) and I hope and pray all who watch and listen are following along by reading the passages and not just listening to me talk. While it is what I believe about what the Lord has done and is doing, it is also backed by Scripture which is written TO US, not just about the manner in which I am attempting to show God’s plan for mankind. 

Religions, as a general rule, sort of lose sight of the Supreme Being’s plan in favor of their own. How many times have you heard or read that you should read this book or that book to understand God’s plan for you? Why would it be that a man or a woman writing a 20th or 21st century opinion should be thought of as a better “Author and Finisher” of our faith? Just go with what the Lord has preserved. He promised a great thing to us, in any of the dispensations identifiable, when He said in Matthew, “…my yoke is easy and my burden is light..” and also when He said through James 4, “…the wisdom which is from above is…easy to be entreated.” 

All man-made and organized religions, be they Christian or some other ilk, have tenets for their position which are designed by their founders or have been adopted by some form of updating system. Imagine updating God’s word: can you? Oh, my! Many have tried! They are called “versions” because that best defines them: a particular form of something differing in certain respects from an earlier formand an account of a matter from a particular person’s point of view. 

Well, that explains why the 20th century had about 100 versions of the bible written and copyrighted, I might add. See, that’s how they claim it as their own and make money off what is their own point of view while displaying on a cover, with unmitigated gall, that it is a holy bible. Aacck! It’s enough to make one ill! If you detest out loud, some will say, “Well, the King James is a version.” No, it isn’t. It’s the word of God, else what would they be objecting to if it was just another version. Version-aires want the KJB gone! Some countries have or are considering banning it from being sold. (I don’t know if any are trying to confiscate the possession of it or not, but that did occur in the 19th century under Roman Catholic jurisdiction, I have read.)

Here is a simple test to know whether you have the true word of God in your hands:

THE 7 VERSE VERSION TEST! text me and I’ll send it to you.

You know, before I was saved, for a little over 2 years I worked part-time selling men’s clothing in an upscale (though not at the top) men’s wear store in Columbus, IN. Mr. Dalton was the owner and a hard man. He was tolerant, yet strictly principled. He never put up with foolishness, yet he had a great sense of humor. I turned 21 while working for him. What is significant about that is how much he taught me about the coming world for me after I reached my majority. And he wasn’t even aware he was teaching me. Even though I wasn’t saved until  we moved to Danville, IL just after my 22nd birthday, I was a believer—cannot remember ever seriously thinking Christ wasn’t the answer—and Mr. Dalton seemed to recognize that, but he would never engage or enter into a conversation about the Lord. His son, a year younger than me, had many ideas foisted upon him at college (like, “I don’t think a loving God would send anyone to hell—there’s no hell!” he would say.) Young Mr. Dalton seldom agreed with me.

Concerning being taught by Mr. Dalton: he once allowed a high school student employee and me to “rat out” a young man of low reputation whom he had also hired. He didn’t like it (neither did we), but he believed in our sincerity. I’ve questioned myself about this over the years and wondered. Upon our explanation of our opinion the other should not be working in the store, Mr. Dalton asked us why we thought we had better insight than he into that other lad’s character. My answer was he seemed too secretive, which contributed to a phoniness when he approached a customer. Mr. Dalton stared at me for what seemed like an hour (probably a few seconds), then he said, Mr. Lockhart, have you studied psychology? No, I said. He turned to the lad with me. My compadre answered, I know him at school and I wouldn’t leave him near my locker, if that tells you anything. So, Mr. Dalton fired him. Yes, I have often wondered, was that right or wrong.

Mr. Dalton respected me and my work ethic, my commitment to my family, and my ability to not anger the customers, even if I was somewhat inept for a while when it came to knowing the products I sold. When I quit, I said I hope to see you again soon. His very curt reply was, “Not likely.” I can’t express to you the hurt I felt at that. As though he could with one short statement crush my confidence level. I went past his place to say hello once after that, but it had a very unfriendly feel. I never went back. At that age, fully 30% of my work-life had been working for him. To Mr. Dalton, I was just another part-timer who came and went in a moment of time.

Thanks for reading, the Elder