I’ve often heard that idle hands are the devil’s workshop, but I must admit having a few days off between summer school and the beginning of the fall session has been nice. I fell into my normal routine of staying up too late (2:00 am) and sleeping too late (10:00 am) then to get up, enjoy a cup of coffee and a Sudoku puzzle… lest my brain go to mush and I end up spending my elder years in a nursing home drooling on myself. I managed to finish my puzzle, got another cup of coffee and thought to myself… “Now What?"
Around my house “Now Whats?” usually end up in some mindless online card game of solitaire or canasta. I call these “life wasters.” In the time I waste in this nonsense surely I could be volunteering in a soup kitchen, scrubbing the baseboards or campaigning for McCain (I just had to say it Marcia and Brian!) But instead, I enjoyed my second cup of coffee with a game of “Thousand Island Solitaire.” (Trademark Pogo.com) Instead of a nice array of Kings, Queens, and Jacks, the player is given three ships to move from one port to another by playing card with number values (25, 50, 75, etc.) The only twist is, intermingled are cards that block your progression to the next port such as, the “rip in your sail” card, the “boat has a leak” card, the “storm” card, or my personal favorite, “your crew has scurvy” card. Until you draw a card to take care of whatever little dilemma fate throws you, you can’t move your ship.
I was thinking, how funny this game is so much like real life. We are coasting through calm waters, just picked up a nice bounty from our last port, when suddenly we get a hole in the bottom of our ship. We sit there watching our little boat fill with water, scratching our heads wondering what our next move will hold, when suddenly we are thrown a life preserver. It is during these times I rely on my Faith to pull me through. Unfortunately everyday I come into contact with folks who are bobbing up and down hoping the sharks just feasted on the last sucker to happen to draw the wrong card. The older I get, I realize just how many sharks there are circling around the poor victims who are struggling to stay afloat.
As a society, too may times we bump right into these folks, but wait for the “Good Samaritan” to stop and do the work for us. I mean after all, remember the famous Malthusian remark of Ebenezer Scrooge “Are there no prisons, are there no work houses?” This proclamation seems to be our society’s new anthem. Well, we may not come right out and say it, but how many of us actually turn our heads away from the folks begging on the highway ramps. Hey, I have said it myself, “He’s probably some con man and if I gave him money he would probably spend it all on booze anyway.” “Well, he just needs to go to a shelter.” I have never really stopped to ponder if anyone has given the poor soul a gift card to the local grocery store. Like many, I have caught myself defining anyone as the Good Samaritan, but myself. Frequently on the road, as I pass folks broken down I say this prayer, “Lord, please send them someone to help them.” Now I am not advocating that single women stop on the freeway to get mugged and beaten, but how often do we echo this sentiment in everyday life… “Lord, send someone else.”
When I think about all the time I have wasted playing games online instead of helping my fellow man, it sickens me. My prayer for today is that we teach our children that we ALL (individuals, companies, schools, churches) need a heart of compassion, and begin working together as a society help those around us who have simply drawn the wrong card… lest we all end up with “Rips in our Sails.”
