Hi, Zane.
I’ve done my old man jog and ate my breakfast…besides doing a bunch of text message communications over both business and personal planning. One of the matters before us is figuring out how to deal with this ailing Kia Sorento that has bombed out again. Thankfully, when it did so on Tuesday, Thano was home and able to hook the flat bed trailer to my truck and drive to the point where I was stranded—Home Depot in Oregon City, so we could load up the Sorento and haul it home. Tomorrow we will be hauling it to a car-dealer friend who is helping us to negotiate a bail out. We’ll see how all that plays out.
Yesterday I was subjected to an ultrasound and stress test at my cardiology clinic in Salem. I think things went well. I don’t really have the results yet, but very likely I’ll be given a few more days to live. Whatever. I’m not very freaked out over the alternatives. Have you ever heard the song that goes, “Gettin’ ready today, movin’ out tomorrow. Gonna say GOOD BYE to earthly sorrow. I’m lookin’ for that mansion fair—I see the light, I’m almost there!”
Have a great day…in hopes that you have a few more days left too. Love and prayers—Tua/Ray.
I have determined that I am 160.8 miles tall. You might say, “That’s ridiculous! How did you come up with a figure like that?” Well, it’s really quite simple. I’m looking at a map that shows the New Georgia Group of the Western Province of the Solomon Islands where we used to live and navigate. The map includes a scale for calculating distances. I used that standard of measurement to calculate my height. If you don’t agree with my method of measuring, I suppose I could get reactionary and defensive and say, “Don’t hassle me. You use your measurement, and I’ll use mine. So there!”
I agree—this is ridiculous. But it’s no more so than the tricks people typically play in measuring their own lives, views, and values. They select a standard of measurement to their own liking, making themselves to look bigger and better than they really are when compared with the standard of TRUTH—God’s standard.
Jesus said, “Consider carefully what you hear (and choose to believe)…with the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more.” I take that to mean that I had better be very careful how quickly I adopt the measuring standards others promote—how I measure myself—what standard I use to measure truth and error—how I determine right and wrong.
If I am 160.8 miles off in my calculations by standards of the truth, I may have to bear the real consequence of being 200 miles off—or maybe a million miles off—or how about 100 billion miles off. Remember, Jesus said that you will receive “even more” from your selected standard of measurement than the actual measurement, whether it be right or wrong.
I think the important point for us to take away from this is that Jesus is implicitly helping us to measure time and stuff against the standard of eternity. So how is it even possible to measure eternity anyway? Just be very careful about the “measure you use.” Please don’t stop thinking about it.