Rev. Jim Jackson, Richmond Hill Presbyterian Church.
The Reverend Dr. I. B. Goodfella says: “We got a problem. It has to do with dog poop picker-uppers. Can you believe it?
I’m startled to realize there are three such companies on St. Simons Island. I believe in creating more jobs, but really there’s gotta be a better way to make a living.
Think about it, dogs have to go everyday. Must the picker- up people come every day? And if they do, doesn’t that get expensive? Sometimes I wonder and worry about what America is coming to. Oh, I know it can be a real problem if you are inclined to walk bare foot in your yard. But don’t try to convince your dog to chose your neighbors yard. Sure, fences do make good neighbors, and so does picking up behind your own dog. Neighbors seeing you doing the work yourself will judge you to be a conscientious, self-reliant neighbor and friend of the furries.
Actually, I’ve thought a lot lately about this new marketing of creative services. It’s caused me to think of what primitive people of the fifties and sixties did. Ah, those where the days of innovation. Remember the tail fins on cars, girls wearing crinolines or guys who wore duck-tail hair cuts and pegged the legs on their jeans? And how about Elvis who sang: “You ain’t nothing but a hound dog”? Now that gets me back to the subject, but only temporarily, for I’ve been thinking about Noah and his ark full of animals on that ark.
Seems to me Noah had a problem which the Bible doesn’t address, a messy problem to say the least. What do you suppose he did? Surely there must have been no people specializing in animal droppings disposal. If there were, there was no eco-friendly means of disposal, and forty-days is a long time to wait. Well that leaves me with one more challenging mystery.
I’ve said all of the above to approach a more serious issue.
Whatever happened to people cleaning up after themselves?
Near my house, there’s a couch tossed on the side of the road.
Why should we dare to be so thoughtless as to expect someone else to cleanup behind us? Think of the plethora of trash that’s tossed out of cars onto roadsides. But there’s a more personal note here. Sometimes we make an ugly mess of our relationships with others—careless, angry, hurtful words and actions.
Shall we leave it to clutter up our lives with regret and guilt?
No! There’s a better way. Jesus spoke of offenses among God’s people: “First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.” Clean it yourself!