Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,’ declares the Lord, ‘because you are called an outcast, Zion for whom no one cares.’

• Jeremiah 30:17

For I am going to raise up a shepherd over the land who will not care for the lost, or seek the young, or heal the injured, or feed the healthy, but will eat the meat of the choice sheep, tearing off their hooves.

• Zechariah 11:16

Before I get to the fable, I would like to tell a joke that usually is told using coarse language, but I will improvise and modify.

The parts of the body had a meeting to see who would be in charge.  They all had good points.  The heart brought blood to all the body parts.  Without eyes, we would not see.  Without ears, we would not hear.  Without a mouth we would not speak.  The nose had a good point about smelling.  The hands and feet each had good points.  The brain said that it felt it was already in charge since it told everyone else what to do.

Then the rectal cavity – I know, you know it by a different name, but to keep it clean, we will say “bottom” – said that it should be in charge of the body.  Several of the body parts asked for a point of order.  The bottom had not even been invited to the meeting.

Then the bottom clinched.  The legs got weak in the knees.  The arms went limp.  The head began to ache.  The heart palpitated.  The ears began to ring.  The nose ran.  The eyes watered.  The mouth went dry.  The lungs tried to cough but could not get enough air.  The brain could not think, until …  They all gave in and let the bottom be on top, the leader over all other body parts.

The moral to the joke is usually that this is the way most bosses get to be bosses and why the industry is in such serious trouble.  But, I have a fable to tell.

There was a medical clinic that specialized in people that had terminal diseases.  To get to know those patients meant you suffered when they died.  So a few of the long standing employees decided to abuse the patients, enjoy the misery that was added to what was already too much misery.

Well-meaning nurses came by and suggested a milder approach, but the leader of the burned out crew, the bottom, bullied her way through, making all the good nurses afraid to say anything.  In fact, the patients were afraid to speak about it.  There would be reprisals and vengeance meted out if you said anything.  They had a clinic lead nurse who objected, but then to feel safe, the clinic lead nurse found it extremely hard to leave her office, afraid of the bottom.  Each shift had a floor nurse that was in charge of all operations, but the bottom ensured that the floor nurse would do nothing but stare at the computer screen for the entire shift.  You see, the bottom was not in charge of anything.  The supervisors would get blamed if anything was ever said and all others were afraid to say anything.

The joke about the parts of the body was never funny if you worked for the meanest, cruelest bottom in the company.  And there would be nothing funny about a clinic like that.

But this was a fable, a story of fiction.  Right?!

God will provide justice at the Great White Throne.  And as a believer, I can only pray that the bottoms of this world come to Jesus and repent of their sins.  And if this had not been a fictional story, the act of forgiveness would be very hard to accomplish, impossible without God’s help.

But this was a fable, a story of fiction.  Right?!

As we look at the Scriptures above, which do we have, restoration or the evil shepherd?  Healing or a lack of healing? Do we have a case of “bottoms up?”

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.