Rulers

In all the craziness of Holy Week and the virus that Margaret and I battled, I was not only unable to send out a newsletter last week, I was also forced to skip an appointment with the most intimidating group of people at this church: the children who attend the worship time (called Special Moments) on Tuesday mornings with the School for Little Children (none older than kindergarten age). While they may not seem intimidating to you, just wait until you have to lead the devotional for their time of worship! They're brutal! In any event, I was unable to lead Special Moments last week, so I switched with Rev. Tefteller and told her I would do it this week. Naturally, Tuesday morning rolled around this week and I completely forgot about it. Fortunately, Judy stepped in and saved my life. For whatever reason, teaching small children is more intimidating for me than preaching to a thousand people! Nonetheless, in the wake of Tuesday morning's disaster, I began to think about what I could have done a lesson on. Usually I find the easiest thing to do is an object lesson. Whether you're 2 or 82, if you can see the object of a teaching, it's a lot easier to connect to the message. This is why visual aids can be such effective tools in worship: a video clip or a picture can sometimes convey a message that simple words never could. So as I looked for the object of my would-be lesson, I noticed a yellow ruler sitting on my desk. When I was younger an object like a ruler represented infinite possibilities. Some good, some bad. For instance, I may or may not have used a ruler to annoy a girl I liked in 3rd grade. And I may or may not have used a ruler to attack a mortal enemy in 1st grade. Likewise, rulers were the best tool for drawing the straightest line on the wing of the airplanes I drew incessantly in 2nd grade. They also demonstrated remarkable usefulness in measuring various items that a 10 year old must know the length of. You get the picture. Rulers can be misused to cause annoyance, pain, and general trouble. Or they can be used appropriately and effectively to accomplish the purposes for which they are made. Are we any different?

Peace,Matt

PS- Maybe I can use this blog to help break my fear of the small children?