Tragic Comedy

(Proverbs 26:8 KJV)  As he that bindeth a stone in a sling, so is he that giveth honour to a fool.

The first part is a funny picture; the second, a frightening reality.  What Proverbs is trying to do is open our eyes so that we don’t have to move from the comic to the tragic.  We have a tendency to let things go at the beginning, the time when they could most easily be resolved.  When it finally gets so uncomfortable that we are ready to act, it is often too late.

I think of raising children.  They are so cute when they are defiant infants.  They are repulsive when they are defiant adults.  They don’t become that way over night.  It starts when they throw a tantrum and win at feeding time.  It grows when they scream at bed time and get to stay up.  It blossoms in grocery store when they demand a toy or candy and get it.  Then some day they drive through a red light and people die.

So?  Take the long road view.  What will be the results in five years for your action today?  How would your world be different if everybody acted a certain way?  You may be only one voice in a crowd but you might make a difference on the person next to you.