Now That's Not Love

 Now That’s Love

I just watched a short video on the love of Jesus. It caused me to think about who Jesus loved and for who he died. It wasn’t just for his disciples and followers. It wasn’t for his mother, Mary. It wasn’t for his half brothers and sisters, it was for everyone from the point of his death and into the future. There was not one person excluded from his love.

He loved the Sadducees and Pharisees who dogged him and tried to find cause to destroy him. His love extended to the High Priests, Herod, and Pontius Pilate who accused, judged and sentenced him to the cross. He loved the Roman soldiers who flogged and flayed him with a cat-o-nine tail whip and drove the sharp crown of thorns on his head. Crowds spat on him, hit him, mocked him, and plucked out his beard, and yet he loved them.

His love was offered to the Roman soldiers even as they drove the spikes deep into the cross through his wrists and his feet. He loved the man who betrayed him with a kiss on the cheek for twenty pieces of silver, Judas Iscariot. If Judas hadn’t departed and killed himself, I am sure that Jesus would have forgiven him.

Jesus would even now, open his arms in love to all mankind: Moslem, Buddhist, Jew, Hindu, Atheist, Communist, or Agnostic. Jesus is the epitome of love. He died to destroy the sin of each and every person on the earth. He allowed himself a death on the cross to have men set free from their bondage of sin. Jesus could have called ten thousand angels to lift him off the cross and to lovingly minister to his wounds. He could have had ten thousand more to destroy those who sought his death if he chose to call them.

Yet, he willingly bore the pain, agony, and shame of dying like a criminal on the cross to save you and me from the punishment of Hell that we have earned. If that isn’t love then I don’t know what is.

Really Rough Sledding

 Really Rough Sledding

Winter isn’t my favorite season of the year. Even as a child, it was a time for doing things indoors. The lure of the sled was the major draw to get me to play outside into the snow. Flexible Flyer sleds were the most common brand and it was the brand I had.

Three shiny thin wooden slats were bordered by thicker pieces of wood; one on each side of the main body. Thick wooden braces supported the thin slats from underneath. They allowed kids to belly slam themselves onto the sled without breaking it. Another yoke-shaped piece of wood on the front allowed the sled to be steered. A short length of binder twine or rope looped through its holes permitted the sled to be towed behind the owner.

Two painted red steel rails curved up at the front end and several upside down v-shaped braces supported the sled body and the body of the rider. The number of braces depended on the length of the sled. Similar metal pieces ran the length of the sled connecting at the front. It attached the steering piece to the runners.

When we got older, we rode our sleds on Coal Bank Hill Road. It was a less traveled, unpaved road with curves and steep slope. At the bottom was Route 711. The traffic was heavier. Because of high banks, sled riders couldn’t see oncoming traffic, so riders had to be extra skillful turning their sleds to run parallel with the highway on the berm or to roll off the sled stopping short of the highway traffic.

When road crews spread antiskid ashes on Coal Bank road to give vehicles traction, sometimes a bigger clunker would grab a runner and bring the sled to a sudden stop. Many riders, including me, lost buttons from our coats as we slid over the front of the sled doing a face plant in the snow.

Because of our adventurous nature, we helped the neighbor boys build an “Our Gang” type of snow contraption from spare pieces of wood and old car parts. Because of its weight and after several rides, it was abandoned. It took two kids to pull it and no one wanted to drag the heavy beast back to the hilltop for another ride.

Some other friends made a toboggan from a long piece of corrugated aluminum roofing. The sled was lightweight and able to fly over the snow without sinking. It slid so fast and so far on its maiden run that we were scared as the toboggan jumped a deep ditch at the bottom of the hill, coming to rest halfway across a cow pasture.