Our neighborhood recently proved it is there to help when a family has a problem. Never mind the problem might have been avoided. In fact , aren't most of the miseries we face in life avoidable?
The fellow who lives back of our meadow undertook to cut down a huge oak tree that stood in the yard and overshadowed his house. He tied it to a smaller tree across the yard with a chain in order to be sure it would not fall on the house when it was cut and that's how the trouble came about. Unfortunately the chain was a little short so he made up the difference with a sturdy rope. Once the line was secure he started his chain saw and proceeded to saw until finally the giant tree began to crack; then the rope broke and the tree fell on top of his house. It knocked the roof off and into the yard leaving the poor man staring wide-eyed at what had happened. It seems even a sturdy piece of rope was not up to the job of containing the weight of the tree.
It was a cloudy day and looked like rain so the man and his wife and some caring neighbors moved the contents of the roofless house into a barn. Sure enough the rain came and when it stopped volunteers replaced the roof and returned the household furnishings. Now that's what I call neighborly.
Nobody gave the poor man a bad time except for a little good natured kidding. (wives are allowed to express themselves bluntly in such cases) . When someone asked the man why he wanted to cut the shade tree out of the yard he explained the he was afraid that it might someday fall on his house. As I said before, we generally create our own problems and fear of the future is a common one. An absence of fear can be more serious, however.
As a free people in a free society we smoke and many of us get lung cancer, emphysema, hardened arteries, and a laboring heart that finally gives out.
We choose a poor diet, eat too much, become obese, and our blood pressure rises as our self esteem drops.
We fail to control our sexual appetites and are exposed to a whole list of sexually transmitted diseases from herpes to aids.
Everything we do in life is risky but we are not required to make risky behavior a habit. Some of us are just naturally more danger prone than others. A few years ago, like my neighbor, I decided that a certain tree just had to go. The particular tree I had in mind was a pine that was crowded between a larger pine and a huge oak. In fact it was so enclosed by the oak that the only place it could fall when cut was toward a power line where, because of its height, it would certainly hit the wires.
My answer to the problem was to get a ladder and cut off the top half of the tree then cut it off at the ground. It would have worked but for a small vine. When the cut was made the vine kept the top of the tree from toppling; instead it simply dropped straight down, tipping my ladder over and sending me out into thin air. I tossed the still running saw away from me and landed on my feet with only a mild ankle sprain.
Later when my wife noticed my slight limp I explained the incident. She asked me if I had forgotten that I was in my seventies and had no business being on a ladder; certainly not when using a chain saw. I explained that I was more experienced than the young man who sometimes helped me. "He might have hurt himself or something" I said. She wasn't amused.
I was well acquainted with a fellow who stood on a folding chair to hang some holiday decorations and the chair did what it was built to do-it folded up! He spent a few weeks in misery with a damaged shoulder and finally had to have an operation in which it was repaired with two metal screws. He took a risk and lost. "Well", he explained to his wife, "At least I didn't have to go and find the step ladder for the job." The protective wife has never failed to remind me to use the ladder ever since.
We are all aware that risk to our property and to our bodies are like playing Russian roulette but a much more serious matter is when we take a chance with our souls. This column is too short to deal with that weighty matter, therefore I refer you to the best resource available-the Bible.
"What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?" Matthew 16:26a. NIV New Testament.
©Copyright 1997 Dr. Stanley Watson and VideComp, Inc.
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"How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace..." Isaiah 52:7.