December 16 – “What a waste”

You gotta love those random, out-of-the-blue comments kids are masters at making.  It doesn’t matter what the situation, what the time of day, where you may be.  If a kid has something on his mind, much of the time it will make its way out of his lips … in one form or another.

When our grandkids were over at Thanksgiving, we discovered the official trailer for the upcoming Star Wars movie.  Now Kel, and subsequently his boys, have a bit of the Geek in them.  Must come from their mother.  They really like Star Wars.  Started with the very first movie when it came out back in the day.  Kel was absolutely hooked.  He even had one of those Millennium Falcon models.  The kind that are worth hundreds of dollars now.  With all the “research” he does for his geekster-ish paraphernalia on-line sales venture, he has often rued the day he tore open his first Darth Vader action figure.  That’s action figure, not doll.  Have to keep that straight with boys. 

So with all that Geekster Dad DNA surging through his veins, Jachin, ever the dutiful first-born, was especially enthralled by worlds of outer space and strange-looking creatures of action and adventure.   Imagine, then, his ecstasy when word got out that there was to be a new movie, one made in his own generation, with all of his favorite, albeit aging, heroes and heroines.  Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbaca. Not to mention the hordes of newly imagined aliens just waiting to be discovered. Could it get any better than this?  I think not.

And as we sat, eyes glued to the tiny iPhone screen, watching the new trailer for about the third or fourth time, Jachin remembered.  It’s hard for him to hide his expressions of pain and agony, and it didn’t take long for those mere expressions to form into words.  For you see, the memory was of a time not so long, long ago, in a place not so far, far away.  Seems his Dad had discovered a spoof movie trailer and had excitedly showed it to his eldest son, who in turn picked up on Dad’s excitement.  That is, until he actually saw it.  Nope.  This wasn’t the REAL Star Wars VII trailer.  So … Jachin’s newly- experienced voice added a certain “expert commentary” dimension to our viewing pleasure: “My Dad wasted a whole minute of my life that I can never get back.”

Hmm.  There is some serious sermon application material in that comment …

Isaiah 40:8 says, “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.”

Father, help us to pay attention to life as you lead us to experience it.  I sure don’t want to waste “a whole minute” of it.  Amen.