Not My Circus, Not My Monkeys

It was almost like they had had been two different debates.  The first where Donald Trump was the victor and the second where Hillary Clinton emerged victorious.

I didn’t watch the presidential election debate on Monday but others did.  At least I thought so.

The first story I read on Tuesday told me that Hillary was the clear winner and the Donald had floundered for answers and looked the part of the buffoon while Hillary was very presidential.

A few minutes later I read another report that told me that it was obvious that Donald had scored all the points and left Hillary in the dust. Hmmmm, interesting.

Like most of life, there were multiple views and differing opinions on the debate, and who the clear winner and loser was.  But Jesus said when it comes to where we spend eternity there is only one option.  Remember he said “I am the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through Me.” 

Many feel that what happened in Monday’s debate and who our neighbours to the south choose as president on November 8th is of the utmost importance but it pales in comparison to who those same people choose for eternity.   But nobody seems to be talking about that choice. 

Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

The Trouble with Trouples

It was a term I had never heard before, I understood the “Trouble with Tribbles” but what was this “Trouble with Trouples”? 


I came across an article the other day talking about trouples and I discovered that it is a term for a polyamorous unit made up of three individuals.  It could be any combination of males and females and two of them may or may not be married to each other.   It is a small polygamous relationship. 

And the trouples are getting cranky.   Because an individual can’t be married to more than one person, their relationships have no legal recognition or protection.  And you can’t really blame the trouples.  After all, if they supreme court could redefine marriage by removing the gender restrictions, surely they would be able to redefine it again removing the numerical restrictions.



John-Paul Boyd, the executive director of the Canadian National Research Institute for Law  recently stated  “The number of people in poly relationships is growing and soon the law will have to catch up to the changing structures of modern families.”

I suspect that it won’t be long before your tolerance will be questioned and you will be labeled a polyphobe if you object to the thoughts of polygamy being a socially accepted part of Canadian life.

Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

Oops!

She had obviously never heard the old proverb “Revenge is a dish best served cold.”  Of if she heard it she wasn’t paying attention, because it appears she wanted her revenge to be hot.

I read an article this week about a Florida woman who set her ex-boyfriend’s car on fire, presumably in retribution for something he had either done or hadn’t done in their relationship.

The problem was that it wasn’t her boyfriend’s car, it just looked like her boyfriend’s car.  Oops!

And so Carmen Chamblee has been arrested and charged with second-degree arson after being apprehended by the Clearwater Police. And they didn’t have to look very hard for a suspect. It seems that Carmen’s misguided attempt at revenge had been captured on a nearby surveillance camera.  Oops, oops!

I guess she should have paid more attention in Sunday School, especially when the lesson was about Romans 12:19 “ Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God.”

The reality is, more often than not, our attempts at revenge hurt us more than it hurts the person we are setting out to hurt.   And even if it’s not caught on video and even if we don’t go to jail, it will damage our soul and our relationship with God. 

Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

Lost . . .

“The first thing I thought was that this is exactly what will happen when Donald Trump will be elected: It's good practice.” Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley may have joked about the recent invasion of his town by Americans, but he wasn’t laughing when he realized that Sarnia would have to pay to get them home.

In August, thousands of Americans set sail from Port Huron, Michigan, down the St. Clair river, on inner tubes and a variety of floaties.  A sudden change in the wind direction resulted in 1,500 of the adventurers winding up on Canadian soil.

The refugees wearing bathing suits and flip flops were provided with warm towels, food and bus rides back across the border, at an estimated cost of over $8,000.00 to the town of Sarnia.

The Bible says, “There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death.”

Mayor Bradley said something similar, “You also can’t legislate IQ levels — and if people want to go out on a very dangerous river in the middle of a storm pattern … and drink, and be on a little life raft or a flotation device … that’s their choice.”

But, however you say it, the reality is there is often a price attached to our choices.   

Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

Us vs Them

Staying on a sports theme from the last couple of weeks, albeit a different time and different game,  I read an article recently about some of the original players from the 1972 Summit Series. That would be a hockey series, specifically a series between Canada and the former Soviet Union.

 I remember watching the last game of the series during grade 7 history class.  Mr. McArthur obviously knew that it would become an important part of Canadian history in years to come.  And it did.  And if you are of a certain age then you remember the chant heard from the stands, “Da, Da Ca-na-da, Nyet, Nyet Soviet”.

Forty-four years after the series, eight of the Canadian players are taking part in a cross country retrospective tour telling the inside stories.

In an interview it was interesting hearing Ken Dryden talk about how there seems to be missing a “us against them” feeling in international competition.  And with the fall of the Soviet Union, Canada has never found a new “them”. 

Sometimes I feel that Christians are always looking for a “them” to be against.

It’s almost as if we need a villain to prove our rightness.  But our rightness won’t be found by holding it up against the wrongness of others.  Our rightness is only found in the rightness and grace of Jesus. 

Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.