Riding the Rails or Looking at Life from Both Sides Now

This week we took Amtrak from Portland to Seattle for the express purpose of attending a Mariners game. We clickety clacked our way up the valley passing farms, rivers, wooded areas . . . and the backsides of bergs.

Towns don't put their best foot forward along the rails. It's true wherever you go in the world. Is this a human failing?

Humans generally focus on what we see in the mirror. "Lookin' good," we say and turn this way and that--but not all the way around. If we did, we'd see that our back fat is showing and our hair is tousled like we just got out of bed.

If there's a moral to this story, it's that there's more to life than meets the eye. There is the flip side. So, in making decisions, be sure to look at all sides of an issue--the front, the back, and side to side.

An old song says, "I look at life from both sides now" and that's generally a very good idea. It's also scriptural. Proverbs tells us that in making judgments we should ask good questions:

"The first to present his case seems right,

till another comes forward and questions him."

~Proverbs 18:17

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Last night we sat in the stands at Safeco Field in Seattle watching the Mariners face off against the Oakland A's. And it caused me to think . . . .

The Christian life is much like a ball game. Satan's fiery darts fly at us like hurtling baseballs. We strike at them. Sometimes we strike out. But our turn "at bat" comes back again and we face that trial (or another one) once more. Each time, we learn something new about warfare or about ourselves.

When we finally connect--when we hit that fiery dart right out of the park, we experience great relief. Yet, there is no time to rest on our laurels. We are in a battle that will continue until the Lord calls us home.

And when the Lord makes His move,

Satan will know his time is over--

  and he'll be cast out

forever and ever. Amen.