"It has happened to them according to the true proverb
"A dog returns to its own vomit," and, "As a sow, after washing,
returns to wallowing in the mire." (2 Peter 2:22).
Hey
Gang Years ago, while in High School, I was part of the
Starduster's, a jazz band that played in many of the clubs in central
Pennsylvania. As a teen ager, I was not permitted in the clubs that
served booze without one of my parents being present. Soooo, the first
thing we had to do when we arrived are the club was to recruit a parent for
me. I can attest to the fact that I had Italian momma's, Polish mommies,
Russian mommies and a whole barn full of Hillbilly momma's.
My
favorite surrogate momma, by far, was a very portly Italian momma who made the
best meat ball sandwich I have ever eaten. I did not particularly like to
do gig's at the Italian Club up in the mountains because of the long ride to
get there. The clientele consisted mostly of coal miners and log cutters
and about ten thirty, after they had had times to get a jag on, the fights
would break out. From that point on the only thing that would stop the
fights was playing the Star Spangle Banner.
The
Starduster's were made up of three gentlemen of Polish decent, three gentlemen
of Italian decent and me, which also meant there were six of the Catholic
persuasion and me, who at that time was not much of anything. So,
the leader being Polish had a tendency to seek gigs in the areas where the
Polka was the national song. Now, I admit, I did not particularly like to
play Polka's but towards of end of the evening my disdain lessened for they
were loud and kept me awake.
When
we played a Thursday night gig, we had to leave early so the Polish and Italian
gentlemen could stop by the local Parish and confess their sins of the past
week and clean the slate- so they could go out and do precisely what they did
last week. Being the youngest of the troop and the most naive, I could
not understand why they wasted the time when it seemed to me that confession
was nothing more than a ritual that soothed their guilt complexes for the
moment.
Now
that was about sixty- five years ago and I was pretty innocent of the ways of
the world, but I confess to you, that as I have grown more mature (old), I have
gained a kind of respect for those coal miners and loggers they did not make any
bones about it, they had no time for God in their lives. But I also
confess, as I have been involved in various churches over the years, I have
gained a distain for those who claim to believe in the Lord as Savior but
the fruits of their lives send a totally different message.
Soooo
my young friends, take heed of Jesus words when He said "Not everyone
who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does
the will of the Father who is in heaven will enter" (Matt.
7:21). So, I ask you, if you were called home today and found
yourself standing before the throne, how would you answer God's question,
"What did you do with My Son Jesus?"
Blessings,
Gramps
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