Anything?

I have a bone to pick with Jiminy Cricket. In the 1940 film Pinocchio, the cricket sang “When You Wish Upon A Star.” Remember the tune and the words? “Makes no difference who you are. Anything your heart desires will come to you.” How about a ham sandwich or a warm coat or a cure for my child’s disease? I was halfway through a TV program last night before I realized that I was watching something bordering on obscene. I was drooling over the walk-through and description of an eight-story townhouse on the Upper West Side in NYC. For sale, by the way. The sleek couple taking me through the place stood on the circular staircase that was continuous from floor one to floor eight. To say it was magnificent would be a gross understatement. If you’re interested, it may still be on the market. Only $85M…that’s Million. When you wish upon a star….anything? Let me tell you one thing I really wish for, and it’s not a 19,000 square foot townhouse in Manhattan. Show me the right star and I will double down on my wish for patience, specific patience, not the generic type. Call me grumpy, but I seem to have less and less patience with folks who unashamedly wear their version of the Christian faith like a lucky charm on a bracelet. It’s as if they are buying stock on the NYSE. An investment. A retirement plan, eternal. But Jesus isn’t selling Whole Life policies. He is, though, offering life on His terms. Some of us…many of us, need to rethink reality. There are basic principles that pertain to accumulating wealth…enough is always just a little more; build bigger barns; cut corners when necessary. And there are basic principles when it comes to aligning yourself with Jesus…by giving you receive; dying to self is birth into life; do unto others.

When you wish upon a star….which one, Jiminy? Anything, you say? Justice? Kindness? Mercy? Cheapening Christ comes as the result of picking the wrong star…the one that reflects one’s own self image.

Grumpy, I know.