Photo and Commentary ©2024 by Maylan Schurch
Friday, December 13, 2024
Back in early November I walked past this truck and noticed that its owner had affixed a few Christmas lights to it. Combined with the two stalwart American flags mounted in the truck box, the effect was festive and patriotic.
Exactly one month later, to the day, I strolled past the truck again. This time, here’s what I saw:
Same truck. The flags are gone, shouldered aside by a Christmas tree in the box, and a snowman perches on the right edge of the windshield. But what’s most disconcerting to me are all those Christmas lights attached to every surface of the truck except the windows. And to notch up the disconcertation (disconcertingness?), those lights are attached with squares painstakingly scissored out of duct tape! Even my casual acquaintance with duct tape has taught me that (1) duct tape sticks, and (2) duct tape, when removed, might carry with it more of the surface than one may have suspected.
A major wild regret of this holiday season will be if I never get a chance to see this zealous, fully illuminated vehicle parading through the neighborhood.
Is zeal good or bad? The answer – the same answer which applies to many other such questions – is, “It depends.” The Bible says a surprising number of very sensible things about zeal and how to apply it, at the link just below.