17 When Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” Mark 2:17 (NKJV)
By Bro. John L. Cash, “Country Preacher Dad”
Who is the medic in your family? Most families have one. You know what I’m talking about, right? When someone is under the weather in your family, who “doctors” on that person? When I was growing up, my grandmother was our first-line-of-defense-family-physician. The daughter of a midwife, my grandmother married a country doctor and spent decades working in a drug store. She knew more remedies than anyone else I’ve ever met. I learned a lot by watching her over the years.
So, as I became an adult, it was only natural that I would become the resident medic when I started a family of my own. Something I’ve noticed is that when folks in the household are well and fine, they might poke a little fun at the person in charge of home remedies. I don’t mind. After all, they laughed at Edison, and they laughed at Einstein, too. Besides, I’ve learned that when someone has their head resting on the toilet seat at 3 a.m., they often call out for my assistance and treat me with a much higher degree of respect.
So, as your babies are starting another year of school, I want to share one of my remedies that I stumbled across when my boys were little. When I was in school, I was a “town boy.” What this meant is that I could sleep until 7 every morning and still make it to school on time. But my sons have always been “country boys.” When you’re a country boy, the schoolhouse is probably at least 30 minutes away. What that means is that you have to get up about 6 a.m. each day — even when you’re in kindergarten.
Susan and I both remember when Seth was making the transition into his first year of the school routine. He was 5-years-old and worked and played very hard every day in kindergarten. Even though we put him to bed early (usually about 7:30 or 8 p.m.) he was still tired when he got home each day. One morning after I left for work, I got a frantic phone call from Susan. She said, “I need you to help me with Seth. He’s slumped over in the car and he says he’s too tired to go to school. What can I do to help him?”
I scanned through my mental list of home remedies and told her the first thing that popped into my head. I said, “Stop at the little store in Hickory. Go in and buy him an ice-cold 6-ounce Coke in a glass bottle. It has to be a 6-ounce Coca-Cola. And it has to be in a glass bottle. Give him that to drink, and he’ll probably pull through.”
(Friends, when you live in a tropical climate like the State of Mississippi, there’s really no better friend than a 6-ounce Coke in a glass bottle. You can hold the frosty glass to your feverish forehead, and it will comfort you and sympathize with you. The six ounces are a carefully metered and calibrated dose of cool and refreshing goodness. It is without a doubt monitored and regulated by the Food and Drug Administration as a medicine, not a mere beverage. That’s why you can’t find one just anywhere.)
Later on that day, Susan called me back. She said, “That 6-ounce ice-cold Coke in a glass bottle worked great. He snapped out of his coma and was able to go to school. You saved his life. Spencer and I drank one, too. It was really amazing.”
Well, I’m telling you this story for a reason. I tell it in hopes that this bit of knowledge might come in handy for you and yours someday. And I also share it because when you know a great cure, it’s a shame not to share it.
There’s an old, old hymn that I love so much that goes like this:
There’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus,
No not one, no not one !
None else could heal all our soul’s diseases,
No not one, no not one !
It reminds us that Jesus is the Great Physician. (That’s certainly been true in my life.) Won’t you share Him with someone today?
Dr. John L. Cash is the “Country Preacher Dad.” He was raised in Stuttgart, Arkansas, and has spent the last 26 years being a country preacher in the piney woods five miles south of the little town of Hickory, Mississippi. (On week days he works at a public school.) He and his lovely wife, Susan, and his sons, Spencer (age 20) and Seth (age 17) live in the parsonage next door to the Antioch Christian Church (where it is so hot today, the Preacher wishes he had a glass bottle of Coca-Cola right now.) He would love to hear from you in an email sent to jcash@scott.k12.ms.us.
Legal Disclaimer: This article is the solely unsolicited and unpaid opinion of the country preacher who wrote it, and he received no payment or compensation of any sort from the Coca-Cola Company, or even the little store in Hickory, Mississippi. The author happily buys his Coke products out of his own pocket — even though he wonders why a 6-ounce glass bottle costs $1.29 when a 12-ounce can costs only 69 cents. 🙂
