The Magic Book

In church this past Sunday morning, my youngest son sat eagerly in one of the few pews left that we could find and immediately looked for a bible. He took mine instead and began to open the pages at the same time pointing to my bible and telling me...

“It’s the magic book, daddy”.


As the song-leading began, my son stopped at a page on proverbs and began to speak in his childish tongue, while pretending to read the text. I looked at the page he was pointing to and read the passage to myself:

“He who ignores discipline comes to poverty and shame, but whoever heeds correction is honored.” Proverbs 13:18.


I realize that in today’s society, this text can be interpreted by many different people in a variety of ways. From what I was feeling that day about all the biased political forecasts I’ve had to regurgitate from all forms of media, I may have somehow interpolated a form of political agenda into the actual meaning of the text.
Shaking the visions of fireworks left by the political goings-on in my head, I bent over to my son and read the text softly in his ear. When I finished, he looked up at me with an “Ahhh” expression as if he understood it.
“Oh, but wait…” I said, opening the bible to another passage.

Then he said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." Matthew 22:21.

My son’s response to me was “Daddy, you’re weird”

For the past few months, I’ve heard on radio, saw on tv, and read on newspapers and magazines anything and everything about this presidential election. Throughout the whole process, I’ve developed my own opinions about each of the candidates, but despite all the negativity I’ve seen and heard, I’ve always been respectful of the political process.

I don’t know what the future holds for this country, nor can I predict what direction an openly socialistic single-party government will take. I do know that for my part, a form of “rendering to Caesar what is Caesar’s” will no doubt become a mandated mantra necessitating a stricter form of discipline on my part in my financial activities.

At any rate, my son, my youngest son had made me realize that as we Americans embrace the winds of “Change” we will have to face ahead, I've had to turn to the Magic Book for guidance and understanding. I’ve no doubt that some --- if not most --- of us will be doing the same.

God Bless.