SHO SH'D SHO

I’ve got great childhood memories from the six years that my family lived in Ada, Oklahoma. We lived in a little addition on the northeast side of town on Linda Ave (I had two Aunt Lindas so I always liked that street name). Our house was just a few hundred yards from the railroad tracks. What a great place to PLAY. Countless pennies were flattened on those tracks. Pieces of coal could be readily found. It was always fun to walk down the tracks as a means to explore. The side of the ‘train track hill’ was perfect for sliding down on old cardboard boxes. Other than adjusting to the noise during the night, I highly recommend growing up near a train track.

We were also around the corner from the Catholic church. The church had a big steeple looking thing in front of it with bells that tolled on the quarter hour. Those bells could be heard throughout the neighborhood, and even though I portended to have lost track of time when I was late for dinner or bedtime, I was always keenly aware of the time of day.  Can't say that I ever stepped foot inside that little church.  Didn't have a reason to...

Just up the hill from the church was another landmark: the local Tastee Freeze. All in all it was a short bike ride away and to this day, I can barely pass a Dairy Queen without stopping (like so many things, I'll say I'm stopping 'for the kids' but when it comes to ice cream, it's pretty much all about me). Each day, the Tastee Freeze had a ‘Shake of the Day’(at a reduced price), which was pretty cool since they claimed to have FIFTY flavors of shakes! Definitely some odd and unique flavors were featured on the TF marquee. I'll never forget the day I pedaled around the corner and past the church to the Tastee Freez and saw that the flavor of the day was 'Grasshopper'. Even as a little boy, I wasn't all that into insects (some bad experiences with red ants and wasps), so I had to make a decision...go home disappointed (I only had enough money for the 'special of the day' price) screaming to Momma for more money (aka: I scream for ice cream) or go into uncharted frozen milky waters. I chose the latter, paid my two quarters and was handed a greenish-looking dairy concoction in a cup. It was summertime, it was hot, so there wasn't time to hesitate...I pretty much had to grab that straw, suck hard, and hope that I was the only one doing the sucking...and you know what...it was GOOD! I recall it having a 'spearmint' taste...kind of like a Wrigley's Spearmint Shake. Plus I found no 'legs' or 'antennae' to speak of so I was in 'non-locust heaven'. Throughout the years, shakes, sundaes and other ice cream treats taught me to enjoy a myriad of tastes and they were my first introduction to various fruits like Pineapples and Strawberries, and reinforced my love for Cherries and Bananas as well. In fact, about any fruit with ice cream is just plain 'Tastee'! Blizzards, Blends, Mixes, Freezes, name ‘em what you want, when Fruit is combined with ice cream (or CUSTARD), it’s good fruit.

In the book of Galatians, the Bible talks about fruits...both good and bad.

22…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Galatians 5:22

The Spirit is God’s Spirit. It’s better than ice cream, sweeter than custard, and it is what should ooze out of each one of us that claim to be Christ-like. We sang a song at Kids Camp last summer that listed all the things that WEREN’T fruits of the Spirit (like Kumquats!?!). The Bible actually gives some better examples (than Kumquats) of ‘fruits’ not on the list, like: “21...hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy;”

In fact, in this passage the Bible lists the NON-fruits first; and let’s face it, those are the easiest to spot and the most obvious traits that that don’t belong in a Christian’s life. From the World's perspective it's much easier to identify WWouldn'tJD than WWouldJD even if you don't know that much about Jesus. When (and if) we in the 'church' exhibit those fruits, those characteristics, those emotions that are NOT of the Spirit, that are NOT of God, we insult God; and the intelligence of those around us. Then no matter how much religious ice cream (or Sunday S'Cool Whip) we try to heap on top, it ceases to be 'special'; it cease to be a treat. In fact it ceases to be anything ANYONE would want; it's a 'shake' with bad ingredients....like getting a 'grasshopper' shake with REAL grasshoppers. Sure it would look nice and creamy on the outside.  But that first slurp would make you run down the hill, past the 'church', around the corner and back home screaming to Momma, "those shakes are awful; they're not what they're supposed to be; I won't ever set foot in there again!" It would give new meaning to the phrase "I scream for ice cream!" and could be the 'bad shake experience' that would keep you out of the 'Tastee Freez' for a very long time.


__________________________________________________________    

This BLOG shares its title with a song from my RED LETTER DAY CD that succinctly sums up my thoughts on this subject.  "It sho should show if you're a child of the Father".  Click on this link and scroll down the page until you see the Red Letter Day CD and the song titled: SHO SH'D SHO!  Enjoy!