lynn.jones's blog

On January 15, a tragedy occurred off the coast of Italy. The Italian luxury liner, the Costa Concordia, ran aground on the coast of Giglio Island. The liner, which is the length of almost three football fields, had over 4,000 people on board and had sailed from a port near Rome only a few hours before.

One of the earliest requests ever made in the kingdom was the request made by James and John. They said to Jesus, “Grant that we may sit.” That is a very common request, and folks continue to make it today.

“Grant that we may sit.” Or, “Lord, we really don’t want to do anything in the kingdom. We have been afflicted with tired blood, and we had really rather sit and rest than get up and do something.”

When Danielle and I went home to Louisiana right after Christmas, we traveled through Robeline, Louisiana. Near Robeline, I saw a sign that I’ve been seeing for years. The sign reads: “No Hope Ranch—Scrub Cows and Bitterweeds.”

Last Thursday night the Ragin’ Cajuns of the University of Louisiana-Lafayette visited the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers to play a basketball game. The game was very close. In fact, the game was so close that it went into overtime. It remained close in overtime. With 21 seconds to go, the score tied, and Louisiana-Lafayette in possession of the ball, the Cajuns called timeout to plot their strategy.

From where I come, one of the worst comments that you can make about someone is to say, “He ain’t got a lick of sense.” One of the reasons why that is such a bad thing to say is the grammar of the statement. Even more significant, however, is the content of the statement—that the person doesn’t have a “lick” of sense. I don’t know exactly how much sense a “lick” is, but it can’t be much.

While the Bible never uses the language of that statement, it agrees with the content of it. One of the things that is to be valued the most is wisdom.

Halford Luccock wrote:
“I love preliminary things—
The tuning up of flutes and strings,
The little scrolls musicians play,
The varying keys to feel their way,
The hum—the hush when it dies,
But most of all, to see the curtain rise.”