<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air perched in its branches\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em> (Luke 13:18)<\/p>\n Elaine and I are going on a little camping trip. The park we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be staying at is pretty big and we won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have access to a car so I figured I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d better bring our bicycles. The bicycles hang from hooks screwed into the garage ceiling. I know they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re there because that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where I put them \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 four years ago.<\/p>\n Our bikes aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t new, even by old people standards, but they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re decent, and as you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve probably guessed, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not over-used. One of the reasons (not the best one) that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been hanging from the garage ceiling for four years is that last time we had them out the back wheel on my bike developed a \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcwobble\u00e2\u20ac\u2122. I figured that the wheel bearings were going bad so I stopped riding and hung it in the garage until I could get it repaired. Elaine\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bike worked fine, but it followed mine into the garage; we bought them together and rode them together so I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m guessing it just didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to be alone.<\/p>\n Like I said, that was four years ago. Now that we \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcneeded\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/em> them again it was time for me to pull them off the ceiling and get my wheel wobble repaired. I checked the Yellow Pages for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Bicycle Repair\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em>. It was early morning and my brain wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really in forward gear so I started at the front and flipped my way toward the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153B\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em>. On my way to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Bicycle Repair\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em> I had to navigate through the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153A\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em> which, I discovered, meant I had to travel through \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Attorneys\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em>.<\/p>\n Well, there are a lot of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Attorneys\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em> so I flipped pretty fast \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 but they just kept coming. I flipped faster \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 they wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t give up! The listings were endless; it was like trying to take roll call in the Chinese army! Finally I outlasted the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Attorneys\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em>, leapfrogged over \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Automobile Dealers\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em>, blasted by \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Bakers\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em>, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Bathrooms\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em> and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Beads\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em>, and found \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Bicycle Repair\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em>.<\/p>\n One listing.<\/p>\n There was a single<\/em> listing for bicycle repair. I know we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t all ride bikes, but come on, one listing<\/em>? Greenville and its immediate surrounds hold a good half-million people, and apparently all of us are counting on one bicycle repairman.<\/p>\n Being easily side-tracked I got to thinking about attorneys again. I thumbed back to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153A\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em> and began counting how many yellow pages were dedicated to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Attorneys\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em>. I was amazed. Sixty pages. A greater metro area of 500,000 people, one<\/em> bicycle repairman and sixty pages<\/em> of attorneys.<\/p>\n What does that say about us?<\/p>\n Since the Yellow Pages are an exercise in pure supply and demand market forces (the only economic reason that<\/em> many attorneys pay for that<\/em> many ads is because they work) I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m assuming that we, Greenville\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s populace, want it that way. And Greenville\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a pretty average place; if anything we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re more bicycle friendly and less of the litigious persuasion than most cities in the US. So my guess is that it isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just Greenville; the attorney to bicycle repairman ratio is most likely similar in phonebooks throughout the land.<\/p>\n I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have anything against<\/em> attorneys or for<\/em> bicycle repairmen per se<\/em>. Each profession serves a vital role in our society. Attorneys fight for our rights when we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been wronged (or perceive we have), they fight to free the wrongly accused (and the rightly accused) and they keep honest people honest by spelling out in extended contracts what we used to agree on with a handshake. Bicycle repairman \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, they repair bicycles.<\/p>\n The whole \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcattorney\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/em> industry is built on the premise that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to harm, do wrong, or cheat one other. The whole \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcbicycle repairmen\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/em> industry is built on the premise that sooner or later, if we own a bicycle, something on it is going to break.<\/p>\n Jesus never said anything about bicycle repair, but he said a lot about the reasons we hire attorneys.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em> (Matthew 7:12)<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em> (Matthew 6:14)<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge and you will not be judged. Do not condemn and you will not be condemned . Forgive and you will be forgiven.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em> (Luke 6:36-37)<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Simply let your \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcYes\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 be \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcYes,\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 and your \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcNo,\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 be \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcNo\u00e2\u20ac\u2122; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em> (Matthew 5:37)<\/p>\n The teaching of Paul follows in the footsteps of his Master.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The commandments \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 are summed up in this one rule: \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcLove your neighbor as yourself.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the Law.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em> (Romans 13:9-10)<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em> (1 Corinthians 13:4-6)<\/p>\n Changing the Yellow Pages\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Attorneys\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em> to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Bicycle Repairman\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em> ratio is a pretty tall order. What can one person possibly do turn something this big around?<\/p>\n Jesus said that the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. Mustard is a tiny little seed \u00e2\u20ac\u201c not of much consequence, even in the seed world. But if you plant it and nurture it, it can grow into a pretty big plant \u00e2\u20ac\u201c big enough to give shade and shelter to others.<\/p>\n What I do, how I choose to treat others and how I react to wrongs committed against me may not seem to amount to much in the grand scheme of things. But that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not what Jesus said. He said that even a tiny mustard seed, if you nurture it, could have a profound footprint in the garden.<\/p>\n The next time I feel my \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcfeelings\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/em> or my \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcrights\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/em> have been violated, maybe I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll keep in mind what Jesus said and just let it slide. Maybe I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll get better at forgiving others and maybe others will see that and take a notion to do the same, and maybe someday the Yellow Page ratio will come down a little.<\/p>\n Oh yeah, I almost forgot \u00e2\u20ac\u201c I took our bikes down to the repairman for a tune-up. In and out in one day! That guy needs more business.<\/p>\n Have a good week, forgive someone \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 ride a bike if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air perched in its branches\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (Luke 13:18) Elaine and I are going on a little camping […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[131,16],"tags":[843,841,842,839,840,844],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gotpotential.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gotpotential.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gotpotential.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gotpotential.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gotpotential.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=540"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/gotpotential.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":543,"href":"https:\/\/gotpotential.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540\/revisions\/543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gotpotential.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gotpotential.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gotpotential.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}