6 Better a handful with quietness Than both hands full, together with toil and grasping for the wind. ~ Ecclesiates 4:6 (NKJV)
By Bro. John L. Cash, “Country Preacher Dad”
Do you ever regret something later that seemed like a good thing at the time? Of course, that’s the way our sins always are. But today I am not thinking about sin. I’m thinking about marshmallows.
When I was a little kid, I hated marshmallows. Just the sight of a marshmallow would make me gag.
But at some point in my life, I did a complete 180. Now I love marshmallows in every way, shape, and form. I eat them roasted and I eat them raw. I love regular-sized marshmallows and mini-marshmallows. My favorite marshmallows are those that come in shapes for all the holidays. Right now I have a bag of marshmallows that are shaped like little grey, orange, and white ghosts.
Marshmallows are delicious. They are a fat-free food. Your cardiologist will not be happy if you tell him you have been eating pints and pints of premium ice cream. But if you tell him you have been eating marshmallows for dessert, he’ll probably skip the lecture. Medical science has shown that marshmallows are one of Nature’s most perfect foods.
Imagine my delight when I learned that there was a new product on the market: Giant Marshmallows. Imagine my delight, too, when Susan brought home a sack of these beauties for our family to roast over an open fire in the backyard. I could hardly wait.
Alas, my happiness was extremely short-lived. Only seconds after toasting my first “Jumbo Roaster” I realized that the reality wasn’t living up to the hype. When you use one to make a s’more, there is so much marshmallow crème that it shoots up to your elbow. And unless you use a knife and fork, there’s no good way to eat a toasted giant marshmallow without getting yourself and everything nearby sticky. Afterwards, you need a shower and a change of clothes. Giant marshmallows fit into the category of things that seemed like a good idea at the time.
Why did I fall into this trap? Because I’ve been brainwashed into believing the American Fallacy: “More is always ‘the most’ and bigger is always better.” But as I live and get older, I’m seeing that the opposite is true. In the words of Benjamin Franklin, “Enough is as good as a feast.”
Everywhere we look, people are scrambling after more, but they’re not happy. In today’s Scripture lesson (at the top), King Solomon wrote that it is better to have a single handful (with peace) than both hands full (with stress). This week, let’s “downsize” our wants (and our cares), so that we have more time for the people and things that are most important.
Dr. John L. Cash is the “Country Preacher Dad.” He was raised in Stuttgart, Arkansas, and has spent the last 27 years being a country preacher in the piney woods five miles south of the little town of Hickory, Mississippi. (On week days has a desk-job at a public school and teaches Latin on closed-circuit-television.) He and his lovely wife, Susan, live in the parsonage next door to the Antioch Christian Church (where folks often have a backyard weiner roast for no special occasion, just because it’s fun ). The Cashes have two sons, Spencer (age 21), and Seth (age 18), who live in the parsonage, too, except when they are away at college. He would love to hear from you in an email sent to countrypreacherdad@gaggle.net.
