Tobacco, Corn, Cows, and Plows (Part One)

I came across this saying a while back and quickly saved it to my Evernote account. It is one of those quotes that sticks with you because of its simplicity yet profoundness that can be found in the wisdom of a life of experience.

 

I entitled these as "Four Rules for Living" in my notes and I hope you enjoy them as much as I have. Review them occassionally and see if they help remind you of how wisdom will present herself at times in the simplest form.

 

1) Never slap a man with a chew of tobacco in his mouth.

 Why not? Well, you may dislodge his "chew" and cause him to choke and possibly die. Secondly, he has a ready battery of ammunition to fire back at you once you have completed the slap! And if you have ever been around a tobacco chewer you know that is something you do not want aimed your way.

 

 

Some may call it Karma, some may say it's getting what you deserve, some will say "what goes around, comes around" and many other adages concerning our actions toward our neighbor. There is a scripture I would like to point out that I believe helps to drive home this "rule for living".

 

Proverbs 26:27

27 If you set a trap for others, you will get caught in it yourself. If you roll a boulder down on others, it will crush you instead.Holy Bible, New Living Translation ®, copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights

reserved.

This is where the "what goes around comes around" phrase originates. The actions that you take towards someone else will be the actions that others take towards you. If you show a total disregard for their situation, others will show disregard for you when you are in a situation. If you show concern and respect for others then concern and respect will find its way back to you.

By following this rule it causes us to pause and consider the consequences of our actions. We like to invoke our right to "free speech" and the freedoms that we enjoy as citizens of the United States and as children of God's kingdom but we also need to remember that joined with these freedoms is the responsibility for the consequences of those actions. You are free to yell "fire" in a crowded theater just those that may be injured because of your lack of foresight are free to sue you for their injuries.

As a co-worker used to tell her math students on a regular basis when working a complex math equation you need to "stop... and think." And I believe in its own colloquial way that is what this rule reminds us to do when it comes to our actions and speech... "Stop and Think."

Rule #2 next week...