Apr 14, 2010


Most of living is trying to be better than my instincts.--M. Sneed

Every year at this time I look at the flowers in our garden and think that this is the best they are going to get. The unrelenting heat and dryness of summer are near and then all bets are off.

Why this put me in mind of the parable of the workers in the vineyard, I will try to explain.

As you know, Merle Wayne is a member of the Church of the Here and Now (CH and N).

The principles here at CH and N are;

(1) Be better today than you were yesterday. Incremental improvement is the goal, not perfection in one fell swoop, which we all know is impossible anyway.

(2) Life after death? Who knows? Besides, we got our hands full here, the next life will have to wait for us to get there.

For instance.

My old friend Dick got himself "saved" in the Christian tradition. In fact he was so successful at it, that he did it about 10 times over the years.

Dick found that perfection was a hard master.  He would invariably have serious lapses of his "saved-ness" and no one would feel worse about less-than-perfect, than old Dick.

So, he would just go out and get himself saved all over again**.  That my friends, is accentuating the negative.

Here at the CH and N we advocate a better approach.

Simply put, try to do a little better today. Whether it is being a bit nicer, indulging yourself a bit less or working a bit harder. Emphasis on "a bit".

So, back to the parable. The workers who showed up late and the guys who toiled all day, got the same reward in the end. In life, it  is not how great you were along the way, it is how you are at the end. And we hope it is a bit better.

** Merle Wayne Sneed acknowledges that salvation is a one-time deal in Christianity, but maintains that something in the fine print allows do-overs for repeat offenders, miscreants and general malingerers.



Things in this blog represented to be fact, may or may not actually be true. The writer is frequently wrong, sometimes just full of it, but always judgmental and cranky

10 comments:

mouse (aka kimy) said...

delightful and brlliant merle!

now the ch and n is one church that i might join!!

lovely roses!! things are finally getting colorful here and now these days.

xxxx

The Bug said...

I was baptized twice - some evangelist convinced me that the first time didn't "take." After the second time I decided that I was pretty darn saved & should be ok in that area.

Thanks for the music - that was a lot of fun!

Barbara said...

The one thing about Christianity that I don't ever miss is the concept of SAVEDNESS! I felt guilty even at age 12 at summer church camp when everyone was finding Jesus but me.

I really like the CH&N approach.

Megan said...

I'm in. Heck, I was already in, and just didn't know it. And that's as it should be.

Bella Rum said...

okay, did i do that twice. what a goof.

Bella Rum said...

Pretty flowers, Merle and enjoyed that video. I agree with the little bit better each day approach. I even backslide on that, though.

Reya Mellicker said...

I am so with you! Do your best, every day, to be a good person. At the end of the day, let go. Start fresh in the morning.

Steve Reed said...

Merle, you are a wise teacher, whether you admit it or not. :)

Wanderer said...

You got the best roses!

a. said...

I love Bing Crosby.