adminSunday, 15 NOV 2009
By John M. Grier Jr. (Charlie Grier’s grandson)
“I woke up this evening (I work nights) around 7pm to discover the power was out. After stumbling through the dark, completely disoriented and finally finding my wife, I discovered the power had been out for a few hours. I made my way back to the bathroom and pondered my dilemma. How would I get ready for work?
“I had to shower, get dressed, and pack a lunch, many things that we take for granted every day. These “modern conveniences” have taken control of our lives and we didn’t even know it was happening! It was not that many years ago, in the grand scheme of things, that electricity was a luxury, but now it has become something we rely on for everything.
“Take the life of my grandfather, for example. He was born in 1906. When he was born, there were production cars being made, but only rich people had one and you rarely saw one. Electricity was around, but not everyone had it. Running water was the same way. Many people, perhaps most people used an outhouse, carried water from a spring or stream and had very little use for electricity. Clothes were washed by hand; a block of ice, cut from a pond in the winter and stored underground in an “ice house” was the source of refrigeration.
“Now, as I pondered my situation, I came to the conclusion that I could take a bath in a sink, using cold water and would somehow survive the experience, when the power suddenly came back on. I was saved!
“Isn’t it funny how we take something for granted? We wake up in the morning (or evening in my case) to an electric alarm clock and take a shower using water heated by a machine, without any thought whatsoever as to how it works or what we would do without it.
“We then make our way to the kitchen for a glass of juice or, as in the case of many of you, a pot or two of coffee, prepared automatically by the machine itself, pick up the newspaper that has magically arrived while we slept, get into our car and drive a distance that would have taken our ancestors hours, if not days to travel, passing through a drive through for our breakfast, which is handed out a window so we don’t even have to get up to get it! We do all of this without any thought whatsoever as to how it happens or what we would do without it.
“If any one item in our routine breaks down, we have trouble handling it. What would we do if all of a sudden electricity was no longer available? Most of our machines would not operate and we have gotten to the point that we could not function without them. Think about it. How would you wake up, bathe, have breakfast and make it to work if electricity and gasoline were not available?
“Most of us wouldn’t even try. What would we do if, after taken away they were never brought back? Many of us would simply die of starvation.
“Throughout history, life has been a struggle. The basic things we take for granted today, our ancestors worked all day to achieve. For example, if you wanted to eat, you had to plant a garden, care for it and eventually you would be able to eat it. If you wanted it to last through the winter, you had to can the items so they would last. If you wanted meat, you would have to kill an animal, clean it and then prepare it.
“This all takes a bit more time than just grabbing a steak out of the freezer and slapping it on the grill. This brings us to the art of cooking. You would have to gather firewood to cook with and leftovers would not last, because there were no refrigerators. They may make it to morning, but that was it. This would dominate your day. And, tomorrow, you would have to do it again!
“Travel of distances more than a few miles would only happen if it was absolutely necessary. How would you get there? Walk? Perhaps ride a horse? I don’t know about you, but I am extremely grateful for our modern machines that make life so easy.
“However, a very big question comes to mind. What have all of these modern machines done to us? We look at them and begin to think we are intelligent and no longer need God. Have our machines become our gods? Or, have we progressed to the point that we believe we no longer need Him or even believe He exists?
“If we lost our vehicles, we would not be able to find work that would allow us to get caught up on our bills and we would lose even more. Eventually, we would get to a point where we had nothing at all. Then, we would turn to God and ask him why this all happened to us.
“Many of us at this point would become bitter and wonder why God allowed this to happen, after all, we are basically good people. The simple answer is that God wants us to rely on him. We manage our lives without him, and never have time for him, with all of our “stuff”, without realizing that all he wants is to get to know us and for us to know him. He will meet our needs, if we let him.”
-End quote (condensed)
God is BEFORE me, He will be my guide;
God is BEHIND me, no ill can betide;
God is BESIDE me, to comfort and cheer;
God is AROUND me, so why should I fear?
Uncle Ben’s (c 1976) p.175