Archive of posts tagged parables

Matthew 11:15

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Sam was bleeding.

He was a tough man, having survived many scrapes over the years. He had faced some internal demons, too, but came away from that stronger than ever.

This time, though, things didn’t look good.

He had a large family, and always offered what he had to them. Sure, some took advantage of him, and made it difficult for others in Sam’s family. But, Sam had a big heart, and always took care of his own.

His kindness extended to strangers. Over the years, when a neighbor experienced trouble, Sam would come to his defense. Sometimes, complete strangers experienced Sam’s generosity. And, sometimes these strangers took what Sam offered, demanded more, then spat in Sam’s face. But, Sam shrugged it off. He was just that kind of guy.

This time, though, Sam appeared to be in trouble. One of Sam’s family members was attacking him.

Barry had left home and had gotten mixed up with the wrong crowd. He had returned, but this was not a joyous, Prodigal Son type of return. Barry came back, and thought Sam owed him things. Sam helped Barry anyway.

Barry had repaid Sam’s kindness by launching a vicious attack. Sam could hold his own in a fight, but an attack from within the family put Sam at a disadvantage.

Others, part of Sam’s family, rushed to the rescue.

Unfortunately, without tearing the house apart, there was only one way to reach where Sam and Barry were, and only one at a time could get there.

Several of Sam’s family rushed to his defense. Willard got to the door first. Leroy and Rick and the others quickly calculated that Willard would get to Sam’s defense first, and rather than block the door, preventing Willard or anyone from helping Sam, they backed off. But not Ronnie.

Willard, you should know, was a lot like Barry. He did leave home but didn’t hang around the wrong crowd. Still, a lot of his way of doing things and Barry’s way of doing things were similar. Not everyone in the family was enamored by Willard. Willard was a better version of Barry, in many ways. But, better nonetheless.

Ronnie was a popular fellow with a lot of the family. Some looked at him as the odd cousin, though. Ronnie was basically a good guy, but he had his flaws.

Ronnie kept telling Willard to let him help Sam. Willard paid no mind, and had to briefly fight Ronnie off. There was only room for one person to get to Sam to help him. And there was no time to sit and bicker while Barry continued his attack. Willard got there first.

Barry’s attack was brutal. Sam was definitely in trouble, but Barry had now turned his attention to Willard. And Barry wasn’t alone. Barry’s hooligan buddies where there, ready to fight Willard.

Willard looked back at the door through which he came and quickly cleared a path. Others could now help him in his fight against Barry and his buddies.

“Need a little help in here!” Willard called. Leroy, Rick, and others came. But it might not be enough. Barry’s friends were strong and used to fighting dirty. And Sam needed help.

Ronnie called out, “Hey, Willard! I want to lead the fight.”

“I’m here now. Come help me!” Willard shouted back.

“C’mon, Ronnie,” Rick said as he rushed to Willard’s defense.

Leroy, always the gruff one, said, “Give us a hand, Crybaby,” as he headed into the fray.

Ronnie had to decide. Join the fight, help save Sam, and let Willard get all the glory? Or stand by and see how things worked out? And, he had to decide by November 6.

How we got in this mess in the first place

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This is a true story. And as I lived it, I came to realize that it’s a good example of just how our country got into this financial mess.

It’s my own mini, but true, version of Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House and it started a few weeks ago. Wife was inspired. She decided that we needed to paint the bathroom walls. She wanted to change from a blue-scheme wallpaper to green painted walls. So she picked out some $40-something a gallon Martha Stewart paint.

Turns out the paint didn’t go on the walls. It went on the base paint. That was around $20-something a gallon. So in order to cover the walls, it was actually $60-something a gallon.

After the walls were done, the floor didn’t match. Because they were a blue theme, those cheap floor tiles had to go. Wife wanted wood floors. So, that’s what we got. I lost count of how much the wood, stain, polyurethane, and all such cost. But it did look good.

But now the vanity top didn’t match. It was blue. So, she picked out a new one. A white marble top with a molded sink. A little over $200. And it looked really good.

That meant we needed to change the faucet. The old one didn’t look good with it. Really, it didn’t.

So, she found one. It’s oil-rubbed bronze, or Venetian bronze, or Tuscan bronze, or some sort of bronze or something. And the spout looked like an old-style hand pump spout. And it was a little under $200. But it looked really good.

Of course, that meant that the drawer handles, door handles, and hinges on the vanity cabinet didn’t match. So we had to find new ones in oil-rubbed bronze, buy those, and replace the old ones. The hinges were hard to find. I had to order them from a place in Spokane, Washington. Which jacked the price of the 4 hinges up from under $4 to about $20.

Oh, and the towel rack needed to be replaced so it would match ($43). And the hand towel rack ($21). And the toilet paper holder ($21). And the bath robe hooks ($25).

And the door stop. And the door handle. And the door hinges. And the handle and hinges on the bathroom closet door as well. That all totaled around $80.

And the light fixture didn’t match. But a new one that did ran $99.

Oh, and the shower curtain rod. Needed one that matched. It was $50 for one that was the right style and color.

Remember the new white marble sink? Now the toilet didn’t match. So, we had to replace it. That was around $240 for a chair-height, elongated, dual-flush white toilet.

Then, of course, we had to get new bath rugs and accessories — fuzzy mat outside the tube, fuzzy mat in front of the vanity, the little fuzzy thing that goes around the toilet base, and a fuzzy toilet seat cover — and towels and such. Which together totaled a little under $200.

If you’ve been adding all this up as we’ve gone along, you’ll realize that we passed the $1,000 mark some time ago. And that’s only because we did the work ourselves. Well, us and one of the sons-in-law.

What we ended up with was a lot of work and a lot of money spent. But it all matches the shower curtain.

The shower curtain? Yes, the shower curtain she bought on sale for $10 from the K-Mart a while back. We did all that painting and replacing stuff so the bathroom would match a $10 shower curtain.

And that’s how the country ends up spending too much money on stuff.

Of course, now you understand how one thing leads to another, and that good intentions can end up with unexpected consequences and unexpected expenses.

The difference, though, is that we didn’t decide to begin a series of things that cost way too much money and have you pay for it. We paid for it ourselves. So, it’s not a financial impact on you. And we aren’t passing the debt along to your grandchildren.

The government, who has even less sense than we do, ends up spending 130 times as much as it should on stuff — but they make you pay for it.

It makes you want to beat a politician with a stick.

I don’t have a stick. But now I got a spare shower curtain rod. It ought to do the trick.