Rev. Ray and Pat Amos
I don’t know why I tried hunting, but I’m sure about why I never tried it again. It was many years ago when I went with a good friend. I told Pat that I should be home around midnight. We soon headed down the road in a truck. Mable, the coon dog, was in the back.
When we started climbing the mountain, it didn’t take long to realize that I was out of shape. My friend could almost stay two steps ahead of Mable, I wasn’t sure that I could even take another step. He kindly offered for me to stay where I was, and he would be back soon. It sounded like a good idea, but I thought that I could end up a midnight snack for a bear, and so on with the hunt.
Mable bellowed out and we were on the chase that ended at a tall tree. The dog howled and would have climbed the tree if it could. The problem was that there was no raccoon up that tree. The expression, “Barking up the wrong tree” took on a new meaning.
When I got home (much later than I told Pat to expect me) she opened the door. I could see it in her eyes: A worried look that said she was so glad that I was safely home. I could also see another expression on her face, and I knew that I was in trouble.
Life will teach us wisdom if we are willing to learn. A preacher is wise to say “Amen” when the sermon is finished, and not drag it out a minute longer. A husband should know when not to speak. Too many times I have fulfilled the scripture, “not knowing what to say, (he) spoke.” Trying to be funny, I explained to Pat why I was out most of the night, “Honey, it wasn’t my fault, it was Mable.”
Scripture has ways of being fulfilled in our lives. Ecclesiastes says that “There is a time to speak, and a time to refrain from speaking” (Ecclesiastes 3:4)
Some will remember the song that asks, “When will they ever learn?”
Grace and Peace, Rev Ray
