Idles, Idols, and Minds

1	Take my life, and let it be Consecrated, Lord, to Thee; Take my moments and my days, Let them flow in ceaseless praise, Let them flow in ceaseless praise.
2	Take my hands, and let them move At the impulse of Thy love; Take my feet and let them be Swift and beautiful for Thee, Swift and beautiful for Thee.
3	Take my voice, and let me sing Always, only, for my King; Take my lips, and let them be Filled with messages from Thee, Filled with messages from Thee.
4	Take my silver and my gold; Not a mite would I withhold; Take my intellect, and use Every power as Thou shalt choose, Every power as Thou shalt choose.

Beware of the person who walks without a limp, God keep me from those who have never had a problem, never had temptation. True nobility is not being better than others but being better than I was at one time in my life.

A slogan we have all heard on the radio, product of the United Negro College Fund, "A mind is a terrible thing to waste."

The field of psychology was discovered in my lifetime, studying the mind. The crowning glory of genus Homo, the human being, his nervous system, his mind, his ability to think. Other animals are far superior in other ways, the cat has a far superior muscular system, the dog a much superior olfactory system (smell), the equine-bovine a much superior digestive system, birds have far superior eyes. Man is the only animal who can blush-laugh, and knows that he is going to die. In fact, in the butchering of animals such as cows and hogs, they pay little attention to one of their fellow members being killed, laying on the ground, just keep eating. No psychiatrist-psychologist has ever been able to define-determine-describe how it is that the same episode of cruelty or happiness can so differently affect different minds.

This world traveler aghast-amused-astonished at the actions in many areas of the world by my fellow man, and yet, I knew that their minds were not idle, that they were filled with something. I still cannot understand how a mind constrained and controlled with empathy towards others such as in a nursery, such as in a hospital room, such as in a facility for learning, could and can change to facilitate horrors such as we find in warfare. I still cannot understand how a mind that can create and appreciate the marvelous brushstrokes of the artist-hands of the musician can drift into the incomprehensible ugliness of pornography. Only when you read an author who has the ability to assimilate words do you understand that one who can create words of beauty can likewise create words of ugliness.

This writer has never been bored one minute in his entire life. I could always spend my time thinking about something, if nothing else, daydreaming. The Christian spends time in his mind praying, repeating scriptures he has memorized. One of the blessings of the worship service, learning the old hymns. They will come back into your mind many times, when you need them most. 

One of the greatest wastes in the human mind is the time we spend in our "idol" worship. I have known men who talk about nothing but sports... knew little of anything else of importance, but could give you the batting averages of certain baseball stars-knew all the rosters of certain football teams. I have known young boys who could identify and talk about any automobile, others race car drivers and vehicles. Some girls place all their attention on screen-television idols. And, as important as it is to make money and have some degree of financial success, some men must learn that there are things in this world more important other than "shares" and the constant barrage of all commercial activity, profit making. The farmer just wants to harvest another good crop, the industrialist, another good sales season. We live in a world of counting numbers, instead of making numbers count.

In a world of political correctness, when the line has been so smudged between right and wrong, do we actually believe that God will help us overcome our debauchery? For one thousand years, the Roman Empire was seething in evil, evil of every type. This writer, standing in the great Pantheon, almost two thousand years after it was built, the Pantheon's dome is still the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome, large opening at the top for smoke from the sacrifices of animals to escape, visiting the areas where Christians were put to death, I realized just how far mankind can sink into the blackness of evil. But, Constantine became emperor. Crosses were placed on the shields of Roman soldiers, Rome became Christian. When you visit Vatican City, St. Peters with all its warts, you know the fact, not feeling, of Christianity. 

Those who have made inquiry, perhaps even many of us, determine that there are five main regrets of the dying. Firstly, I wish I had the courage to have lived the life I knew I should have lived, leaving off all those sins which I thought were so wonderful at the time, but which now mean nothing. Secondly, I wish I had not worked so hard, put work before my family, friends, even my relationship with Christ. Thirdly, I wish I had often expressed my real feelings instead of being tolerant, expedient, protective. It is hard to realize many I knew, and many I did not know, family-friends-acquaintances went to hell because I was afraid or reluctant to talk with them about their soul and most of all to live my faith in all its holiness. Fourthly, I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends. Even Mark Twain said, "Friendships must be kept in repair." I was so close to so many at one time in my life and then lost contact. Realizing this, I placed a call to my best friend at the University, one of the worlds best known medical scientists. His assistant told me that he was busy and did not have time to talk to me. I realized that he did not remember who I was... through my own neglect of him. Fifth, I wish I had allowed myself to be happier, less hard on myself. I wish I had eaten more of the food I liked that I had considered too expensive, worn more comfortable-expensive shoes. I wish I had given littler care or consideration to "what people think," I wish I had been more careful in not caring what people think of me but more care in what God knows about me.