Saturday, December 1, 2001
Saturday, December 1, 2001
"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." This is the one of
whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, "The voice of one crying out in the
wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.'"
After weeks in the hospital recovering, he was at his friend's house attending a party
one evening.
While in the kitchen, he suddenly heard the tea kettle whistling. He grabbed a baseball
bat from
the nearby closet and proceeded to batter and bash the tea kettle into an
unrecognizable lump of
metal. His friend, hearing the ruckus, rushed into the kitchen to see what had
happened. He asked
the desert man: "Why'd you ruin my good tea kettle?"
The desert man replied: "Man, you gotta kill these things when they're small."
Anger, resentment, self-destructive habits--we must deal with them while they are
small--before
we become captive to them. So, John the Baptist comes to us saying, "Repent." Look
within.
Examine your life. See if there are changes you need to make.
(Matthew 3:2-3
NRSV)
There is a story about a fellow who had spent his whole life in the desert. One day he
came to
visit a friend in town. The man who had lived in his desert had never seen a train or the
tracks
they run on. While standing in the middle of the railroad tracks one day, he hears this
whistle--Whooee da Whoee!--but doesn't know what it is. Predictably, he's hit--but, only
a
glancing blow--and is thrown, head-over-heels, to the side of the tracks.
Dear God, Please forgive me, as I prepare for Christ's coming. Amen.
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