Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Maylan Schurch
Friday, January 3, 2025
This past Monday I went to our library to do some work on my sermon. Nowadays many libraries have vending machines – which they didn’t when I was a kid – and they’re very popular.
However, someone in authority has posted this aggressively eye-catching sign letting people know that this machine is inoperable.
“Out of Order,” of course, could have several meanings, depending on what’s happening. In a courtroom, or in a meeting run by Robert’s Rules of Order, it means that something unacceptable has just been suggested, and should be disregarded. To a child lining up alphabet blocks, “out of order” urges the liner-upper to compare his or her effort to the way the alphabet traditionally goes.
I don’t know whether a dentist or dental hygienist will be glancing at this sign before the machine’s repairs happen, but I could imagine them seeing “Out of Order” and murmuring “Good!” The fewer processed sugars inserted between young teeth, the fewer the resultant cavities.
Do you see the word “Learn” at the bottom of the sign? That’s part of the library system’s general mantra or slogan, but it fits perfectly with the larger lettering. As we move through life and see things that are out of order, we need to learn why, and then take corrective action.
In fact, this might be a good time for a tutorial on life’s major “out of order” problem: sin. Check out the verses at the link below: