Continuing Discussion On Morals

I’ve been writing newspaper columns since my junior year in high school, almost 50 years ago. A couple of them produced death threats that the law enforcement folks deemed credible enough to have a chat with me about watching my back for a few days.

Not sure I’ve written any that generated as much response as a few recent ones on the declining morals in this country. And surprisingly, at least to me, the reaction has been about 99-to-1 in agreement.

Since I’m feeling a little emboldened, let’s hit chapter two. And if you’re an atheist, you might skip this week . . . or not. Your call obviously. I’m going to talk about God, but I think this very much goes in line with last week. If you don’t agree, that’s OK. This one is my two cents after all. You can have your own two cents any way you want.

Here’s the question: If you met God today, what would you want / expect him to say to you?

Notice the slash between want and expect? Don’t know about you, but I’m worried that the gap between what I want Him to say and what I expect is bigger than I am comfortable with.

Just saying.

Thing is, any of us could meet God today. Think not? Take a look at the obituary page. It always has some folks who maybe didn’t have “Meeting With God” on this week’s to-do list. Yet there they are.

Since we don’t know when, where or how this will happen, doesn’t it make sense that we should try to put ourselves in a position so that He won’t have to struggle to find something nice to say?

As you ponder that, let’s also think about how we live our lives these days. Think about the things we say on social media about other folks. I mean, c’mon! Can you believe she would wear something like that at HER age? Or what about those idiots who love Donald Trump? What do you mean Joe Biden should run for another term? There surely isn’t a shortage of opinions . . . and tempers!

Don’t stop there. Think about our reactions when some moron, uh-oops, cuts us off on the interstate.

Would we really say the same things if we were face to face with that driver or the person on the other end of the computer?

Maybe. Maybe not. Still, the reality is we’re saying them today. We might find ourselves explaining why to the man upstairs tomorrow.

I was listening to my favorite pastor Allen Jackson the other day and he asked a question that gave me pause. What could someone possibly do that would be considered brazen in today’s world? Wow! A few years ago, that’s a pretty easy question. Today? Not so much. That says a lot, doesn’t it?

If we could re-live our lives, there’s probably a lot of things we might do differently. I know for sure that I never would have sold my ’67 Chevy pickup. Most of us would probably make a good effort to be nicer, to do good things, to be respectful . . . all things we can easily start doing today. Right now.

We should anyways. Be it tomorrow, next year or a long time from now, the question stands: What do you want God to say to you?

Two cents, which is about how much Timmons said his columns are worth, appears periodically on Wednesdays in The Paper. Timmons is the publisher of The Paper and can be contacted at [email protected].