GOD DOES NOT GRADE ON THE CURVE:
I am a child of 60’s. In my early years I convinced myself that if I was better than most of the people I knew, I would probably go to heaven when I died. I don’t know if it was for that reason, but I associated with a bunch of guys who smoked dope, tried heavier stuff, sought to “have” as many girls as they could, looked at most laws more as suggestions than mandatory, and, pretty much, were more concerned with enjoying life than with being responsible.
I walked lockstep with them, and, at the end of some long weekends, I wasn’t sure that I could talk my way into heaven- even with the loose parameters I had come to accept.
One day I had a revelation that God does not grade on the curve. I came to realize that I needed to obey ALL OF THE RULES, ALL OF THE TIME! Believe me, I don’t, but I do try.
PINK IS PART OF THE VICTORIA’S SECRET CLOTHING LINE:
I’m old enough, or dumb enough, that I was a bit confused the first few times I saw a girl wearing a black item of clothing that said PINK on it. Maybe not a big deal, but I thought it was worth mentioning.
TRUST, BUT VERIFY:
It is good to trust people. It is better to be sure you can trust them first, before you let them take advantage of you.
STORY- You knew there was going to be at least one story didn’t you? When I was in seventh grade I went to a small Catholic school. During the summer I hung around a pool in my small town. One of my friends from school, Ray, introduced me to a friend of his, George. George was bigger than I was, more worldly, and, I thought, really cool.
The pool had a park outside and kids used to hang out in the park after swimming. A pass was required to enter the pool. The park was free. One day George asked me if he could borrow my swim trunks. I told him they would be too small for him. He laughed at me and said, “I just need your token. I knew it would be wrong to give him my token to sneak in, but hey! He was cool, and he was talking to me. I gave him my swim-trunks.
George did not throw them to me, as we had planned. I went to the fence and asked him why he didn’t give the trunks back and he told me a guard was watching him. He dodged me for a week. I had to track him down to his house. I knocked on his door several days in a row and there was no answer, even though other friends told me he was home.
The story has a happy ending, on about my fourth day of knocking his mother answered the door. I got my trunks back and George was dealt with. I heard the screaming as I rode my bike away in triumph.
Morals? I was wrong to cheat the pool out of George’s admission, I was wrong to trust a kid I really didn’t know- But I did pretty good fixing my mistakes.
I hope you enjoyed this little sliver of my life. Please let me know some of your life lessons in the comment section.
Thanks
Phil