~ A programmer is someone who solves a problem you didn't know you had in a way you don't understand.
~ An auditor is someone who arrives after the battle and bayonets all the wounded.
~ A banker is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining and wants it back the minute it begins to rain. (Mark Twain)
~ An economist is an expert who will know tomorrow why the things he predicted yesterday did not happen today.
~ A statistician is someone who is good with numbers but lacks the personality to be an accountant.
~ A mathematician is a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat that is not there.
~ A topologist is a man who does not know the difference between a coffee cup and a doughnut.
~ A lawyer is a person who writes a 10,000-word document and calls it a "brief."
~ A psychologist is a man who watches everyone else when a beautiful girl enters the room.
~ A professor is one who talks in someone else's sleep.
~ A consultant is someone who takes the watch off your wrist and tells you the time.
~ A diplomat is someone who can tell you to go to Antarctica in such a way that you will look forward to the trip.
--Selected from Mikey's Funnies.
You've watched it, too. I know I'm not the first or only person
who has seen it. But there is a lesson in it that we both may have
overlooked.
There are some children on a beach. They're playing and giggling
-- building sand castles all the while. They seem so intent on the
project. You get amused at how meticulous and careful they are with
crumbly corners and towers. The looks on their faces as they screw
their mouths around and stick out their tongues make you smile. Their
resolute concentration on the task is priceless.
Then a big wave begins building and starts toward shore. But the
kids don't panic. Instead, they do the strangest thing. They jump to
their feet, scream with delight, and watch the torrent of water wash
away their creations. There is no panic. No sadness. No bitterness.
Even children know the inevitable end of sand castles. They are
neither
surprised nor angry about what has happened.
You and I should be so wise. The stuff of this world is about as
lasting and durable as children's sand castles on the beach. Yet we
grownups can get so caught up in it, defensive of it, and depressed
over
the loss of it.
God didn't create you to be famous, get rich, live in the biggest
house, or drive the fanciest car. He created you for his glory. He put
you in the world to love people and do holy things. Your destiny is
not
bound up in physical things, but spiritual. So living to be a hundred
is far less important than living well -- even if for a short time.
Beautifying your body is far less urgent than purifying your soul.
Children know that their sand castles are brief joys destined to
disappear with an incoming tide. So they don't fret as the waves
approach. They watch their creations get swept away without shedding
tears. Again, we should be so wise.
Everything about this life is fleeting and perishable. The
incoming wave of human mortality is going to sweep it all away. Like
sand castles, nothing done for the sake of this world can last. Only
what we do for eternity will survive.
What would the loss of your job or business do to you? What if
your house were lost to fire or storm? What if a strange pain sent you
to your physician and led to the discovery that you have only a few
weeks to live? These things really do happen to people, you know. We
are all as vulnerable as sand castles.
Life is God's gift. Revel in every good thing. But as you enjoy
your creations in the sand, just remember not to get overly attached
to
them.
"Help us, O Lord, to number our days wisely. Amen."
God@Work is a ministry of St Mark's United Methodist Church, 8550 Pioneers Blvd., Lincoln Nebraska 68520 U.S.A. e-mail: info@stmarks.org
