The following came through on one of my lists today:
"Knock, Knock I knocked at heaven's door this morning. God asked me...'My child, what can I do for you?' And I said, 'Father, please protect and bless the person reading this message.' God smiled and answered...'Request granted'. If you believe, send this to seven people and the one who sent it to you. By doing this, you have succeeded in praying for eight people today. 'Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.'
THIS IS PRETTY NEAT,
93 % won't forward this
Place your mouse on the E below and drag to the U.
Even though you can't see Him, GOD is there for yo U [The portion between the E and the U was in white type, so it could only be seen when highlighted.]
When Jesus died on the cross, he was thinking of you!
If you are one of the 7% who will stand up for Him, forward
this.
93% of people won't forward this."
Doesn't putting it on my blog show that I'm standing up for Him?
I didn't say anything on the list when it came through, but I was gritting my teeth as I read it. Since I am the co-owner of the list, I felt that silence was probably the best approach. I noticed that no one on the list responded by sending it back to the attention of the person who had posted it.
It seems I get a forward like this once every few days or so. A lot of them come from my LDS friend, Fran, in Utah, who I have asked to please not send them. She has ignored that. I always delete them.
Why? Am I ashamed of Jesus?
I can tell you unequivocally, I am not! However, God gave me my brain and I use it. I can sense that people who forward things like this blindly aren't thinking very well. How did the author of this forward come up with these percentages? What gives this person the right and the power to pronounce judgment upon other people?
I have seen items forwarded that say that they must be passed on to X-number of people in X-number of minutes in order for a big blessing of some nature to come through for the person forwarding it. I wonder if the people who continually send them out and/or forward them on realize after a while that they aren't receiving these great rewards. Maybe they experience some small coincidental good event and attribute it to having forwarded on that particular e-mail.
Just for the record, I can tell you that if you send me a forward that fits any of these descriptions, I will not forward it on. I will not feed into what I feel are the fantasies of someone who authored these e-mails and who is perhaps a megalomaniac or at the very least, extremely self-righteous, by sending on a forward that isn't verifiable and may key into the receiver's fears or other emotions rather than engaging their brain.
I wrote the above last night; this morning, I am feeling more sympathetic towards the friends of mine who have forwarded these things. And perhaps a bit self-righteous, in thinking, "Of course, I love Jesus!" I do object to people telling me how and when I have to prove it.
As it would happen, I received an e-mail forward this morning that I have received before (this is the case so many times with these sends -- they have been around and around the Internet). This one was a sweet story about an elderly man and his visits to his wife, who had Alzheimer's, in a nursing home. It was very touching, except for the preaching at the end. The person who sent it used to be on a list with me and when I get these items from her, I write to ask her how she's doing. I get no answer. I wish she would realize I'd rather correspond with her than receive the forwards.
There -- I think I've pretty much vented my feelings on this subject. I welcome your thoughts.
*****
Yesterday I got a few pictures to post on my Flickr site. It seems that my spring deer are visiting already. The first picture was taken through my kitchen window, and I think she is a little doe. ("Doe, a deer, a female deer . . . " if you want to sing along with me.) ;-) The second shot is of another another deer in my back yard. He has a rather mangy coat, as you will be able to see better if you click on the shot and go to my Flickr site.
Also, my housekeeper Norma noticed that a crocheted throw my sister Kathy made for me a number of years ago had fallen behind the couch, so she picked it up, folded it, and put it on the back of the couch. Silver has claimed it as his own.
*****
I am pretty worried about the economy. Maybe I shouldn't watch CNN. I saw blurbs running across the bottom of the screen saying that the economy is in the worst shape since the Great Depression. That is certainly not good news. All we can do is keep chugging away, doing our best in whatever our life's endeavors are.
For myself, I try to have faith in Jesus.
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