Image by Peggy Dyar from Pixabay
“No, I don't believe our thoughts create reality because I don't believe we are little rivals to God Himself,” Sgt. Trent said to a friend on the phone, “but I do know our thoughts can get us into big trouble.”
Nine-year-old Milton and eight-year-old Gracie Trent began doing what they always did – eavesdropping.
“I don't even understand that,” Milton said to Gracie. “If people could do what God does, why do we still have Covid, because everybody wants it gone!”
“Ain't it the truth,” Gracie said.
“Okay, so we need to understand what happens in people's minds when they say things like, 'It won't happen to me' or 'what nasty thing could happen on such a lovely day' – what happens is people let their guard down and take chances they wouldn't ordinarily take, and then the danger present in people and in Creation gets them.
"Yes, Private, it really is that simple. Bad theology hides a multitude of things we actually can address and improve. Yes, that is why the Church of the Never-Locked Door got run out of their little wannabe hush harbor – got so proud of themselves that they forget to check for yellow-jackets, so they all got stung and then got ticketed by the sheriff's department.
“No, Private, praying first before a situation like that can't help anything because first, they were flouting lawful restrictions, however much we may disagree with said restrictions, and second of all, if your pastor puts his hammock up on the backside of a yellow jacket nest and then jumps off in there and breaks that whole limb and swats that nest, what is about to happen is what is supposed to happen. God gave us Romans 13 two thousand years in advance; He's not obligated to do more.
“I guess if you get warned two thousand years in advance, I guess it is kinda silly to ignore the warning,” Gracie said.
“But I want to know how God knew about the yellow jackets,” Milton said. “I mean, is that in Romans 13?”
“Let's go get Dad's Bible and find out – no, never mind, he's using it,” Gracie said.
“Yes, that IS what it says, Private – 'Be sober, be vigilant, for your adversary the devil is as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour' – when we entertain wishful thinking about our situations, we lose out on our vigilance. Our wishes will never create reality, but they do affect our vigilance.”
“I don't understand all of what he is saying, but I do get 'stay careful,' ” Milton said.
“Me too,” Gracie said. “Do we need to double-check the water slide we are making out of those 13-gallon garbage bags?”
“Probably we need to go on and upgrade to 17-gallon bags for safety,” Milton said. “Let's go take care of that so we have a lovely day.”