The Pinecone
|
January 2015
• 9 •
f r om Don J oh n s on , K i r b y P i n e s Chap l a i n
Chaplain’s COrner
January
Vesper Services
January 1st
No Vespers
January 8th
Reverend Dr. David Comperres
Emmanuel United Methodist Church
January 15th
Crusade for Christ
January 22nd
Dr, Leon Sanderson
White Station Church of Christ
January 29th
Reverend Sandy Wilson
Second Presbyterian
A man once went with a friend for
a ride in the country. They drove off
the main road and through a grove of
orange trees to a mostly uninhabited
piece of land. A few horses grazed there
amidst a couple of old shacks. Walter
stopped the car and began to describe
vividly the things he was going to build
on the land. He wanted his friendArthur
to buy some of the acreage surrounding
his project. Walter explained to his
friend, “I can handle the main project
myself. It will take all my money,
but…I want you to have the first chance
to this surrounding acreage, because in
the next five years it will increase in
value several hundred times.”
Arthur thought to himself, Who in
the world is going to drive twenty-five
miles for this crazy project? His dream
has taken the best of his common sense.
He mumbled something about a tight-
money situation and promised to look
into the deal later. “Later on will be too
late,” Walter cautioned. “You’d better
move on it right now.” Arthur failed,
however, to act.
And so it was that Art Linkletter
turned down the opportunity to buy
the land that surrounded what became
Disneyland, the land his friend Walt
Disney had tried to talk him into.
OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS
This story from
God’s Little
Devotional Book
,
p.130, is a remarkable
illustration of opportunity offered and
sometimes lost. We are so often like
Art. A friend tries to help us and we
fail to understand the issue as it really
is. Sometimes we even think our friend
has figuratively stepped off the cliff.
This is especially true when we can’t
embrace our friend’s dream. In our
world of change and uncertainty we
choose to hold tightly to life and resist
every conceivable risk, whether real or
imagined.
Remember the saying, “Opportunity
knocks but you must open the door”?
The future may be unknown or unclear
so it’s easier to not act. There’s bound
to be another knock. Certainly a later
chance will come.
Did you ever look back on life and
exclaim, “I would have been so great or
had so much if only…I had listened…
or quickly responded…or taken my
chance!”
Do you hear the knocking? It’s a
New Year! It’s a potential greater than
we can imagine! Think for a minute just
about the time before us and the open
door it presents.
There are sixty seconds in
a minute…sixty minutes in an
hour…twenty four hours in a
day…7 days in a week…52
weeks in a year. That’s 3,600
seconds every hour…86,400
seconds each day…604,800
seconds in a week…31,536,000
seconds in a year. That’s 31 ½
million seconds. We all have
the same amount of time. How
we use it shows whether or not
we are rightly opening the door
and taking advantage of what’s
ahead.
Walt Disney with Lois and Art Linkletter
A thought from Paul says we should
be “redeeming the time” (Ephesians
5:16).
We are to listen for each knock
and determinedly open the door. That’s
what Walt would say to us today!
Till next time, Don Johnson
Kirby Pines Chaplain
