Dr. Lawrence Butler

The Bridge Church, Pembroke

Recently the Butler family gathered to enjoy the holidays. As things were concluding I made a late decision to give away some of my knife collection. Please don’t think it was some valuable heirloom that was being shared, but it was mine and as I age possessions often have more sentimental value than “street value.” So, I decided to pass along a few personal possessions.

Back in the “good ole days” as we describe them, many of us either grew up on farms, small communities, or had families who were not far from that lifestyle. Most every male in these rural settings carried pocketknives. They were not weapons, but tools used for common necessities. I carried one as a young child that was provided by my Dad. It was too dull to be dangerous, but I didn’t know that at the time. Boy was I proud of my new knife! I just had to learn to throw it, you know, like the cowboys and Indians on TV. It seems to me TV has had a very detrimental effect on our society. I digress, so let me return to my story.

The guy who lived next door to us just happened to have a nice piece of plywood in his backyard that seemed like a perfect target for an inexperienced knife thrower. It was wide enough to hit easily and certainly not dangerous since it was sitting on the ground. I had all the safety rules covered. There was only one thing I didn’t think about.

his has happened often in my life – I didn’t think about something.

Well, this time it was clearly pointed out to me that my knife-throwing skills were not important to the neighbor, but his plywood was!

Should have thought about that. I was therefore presently and permanently kicked out of his yard and would no longer be able to walk through on the way to my friend’s house. I could stand it, but my parents didn’t like the whole thing.

Guess who had to go and apologize. God knows we didn’t really mean to mess our lives up like we did.

We just didn’t realize what we were doing. However, did you know a simple apology can change things for eternity? “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (I John 1:9). I knocked on the door of our neighbor’s house (at my parents’ strong suggestion), apologized, and was allowed to pass through his yard as before. Forgiveness is a wonderful thing. Try it!