Taking For Granted!

    In Georgia Methodism’s Wesleyan Christian Advocate, James R. Webb passes on a story he heard in Savannah about a well-known lady of that coastal city who invited quite a few guests to dinner.  As the main dish, she prepared a huge crab salad.  Just before her guests were due to arrive, she set the crab salad on the dining table.  Upon entering the room the next time, she was horrified to discover the family cat engrossed in feasting on crab salad.  Jerking him away, she was heartsick to realize that she had no time to remake the salad before her guests arrived.  Throwing the cat outside from the house, she raced back to carefully scoop away the meat around the cat’s feeding place.  Smoothing it out, she resolved not to divulge her secret to the guests. 
    Duly arriving and beginning the meal, the guests dined heavily on the delicious crab salad. All went well until she glanced out the kitchen window after dinner.  Seeing her cat stretched out stiffly on the lawn, she felt her heart sink.  Rushing outside, she checked to make sure, and he was dead.  Groaning to herself she thought, “Oh no, it’s that crab salad!  It has poisoned my cat.  All of my guests have eaten it and so have I!  What’s next?  I have no choice but to tell my guests the whole story!” 
    Rushing back into the living room, she divulged her little secret.  As they all rushed to the hospital where the doctors quickly pumped their stomachs, they all appeared rather nauseated and queasy.  After the excitement died down somewhat, the next day one of the nearby neighbors dropped by to confess, “I have an apology to make.  As I was pulling into my driveway last night, your cat ran out in front of my car!  I ran over it and killed him! Please forgive me!  I’m awfully sorry!!”  Holding back her urge to kill, she managed to mumble, “So am I!” 
    How often do we assume that a thing is a certain way only to find out that we were wrong?  It is important to get the facts before jumping to some conclusion. Recently we have seen many cases in the news with politicians, clergymen, and top officials assuming a matter to be one way, but when the facts came out, they were so wrong.  Being in the church all of my life, I have experienced the ugly destructive power of assuming.  I have seen families splinter when a spouse assumed that the worst was going on.  Many churches have died through the heavy weight of a wrong assumption. 
    When I was a young preacher, there were times that I would walk into a bar and hang out for 30 minutes or so.  I knew that if a fellow Christian saw me they would assume that I was doing a no no; because, all the signs indicated that I was failing as a Christian.  But, my motive was to sit down by a lonely person and begin to talk to them about the Lord and His love for them.  After ordering a soda, I would scan the floor and find the one person whom I felt was ready to listen.  Sitting next to them I would break the ice.  For more info you can visit us at www.JoyChristianMinistries.com

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