Monday, June 23, 2003
Monday, June 23, 2003
The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.
"Boy, it's dark," Joe would say. And a little later: "What time have you got? "Six," someone
would answer.
Then Joe began to get concerned. "Shouldn't it be getting light soon?" By the time his watch
said 6:40, he had stopped fishing. He just sat there staring into the darkness. Finally, his voice
cracking in genuine terror, he cried: "I'm telling you, something is wrong! It's not getting light
today! It's not getting light! "It's the end of the world," his buddies hooted. "Doesn't matter,"
one of them said, "because the fish aren't biting anyway." That's when Joe caught on. And he
took it rather well, although they did have to wrestle an oar out of his hands.
It's a delightful story, but Joe's words are haunting if you think about them for a few moments.
"Something is wrong! It's not getting light! It's not getting light!"
There are times when we feel that soul-crushing terror, but we are reminded that
God is with us.
(Psalm 46.7
NRSV)
Newspaper Columnist Mike Royko tells about a practical joke that was played on a man in
Madison, Wisconsin. This man and three friends were enjoying a fishing trip at a secluded lake.
They fished all day. Every night they went to bed at about 10:00 and got up before dawn for
more fishing. One of them, who we'll call Joe, was the first to his bunk one night. He was
exhausted, and was snoring within a few minutes. Then one of his friends had an idea. He
got Joe's wristwatch off the dresser and changed the time to 4:45. Then they all got together
and changed their own watches, including the alarm clock, to 4:45. The alarm was set to go off
at five o'clock, or just fifteen minutes later. Then the conspirators turned off all the lights, took off
their clothes, and went to bed. Fifteen minutes later when the alarm clock went off, they all
got up, shuffled around, and made the grumbly, miserable sounds that people usually make
early in the morning. One of them put toast and coffee on. The only truly miserable one, of
course, was Joe. He sat on the edge of his bed, shaking his head and moaning. He kept looking
at his watch and complaining that he felt like he hadn't gotten any sleep. "I must be getting
old," he said as they dropped anchor and began fishing. Every few minutes, he'd glance at his
watch and look at the eastern horizon and say: "What time have you got?" "Five-forty,"
somebody would say.
Dear Jesus, thank you for always being with me. Guide me in your ways. Amen.
