Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

I’m Jemima L. Yeggs, a.k.a. Stinker.  Pink Lady Apple Yeggs, my landlady and my auntie, wants to read about how younger people, especially couples respond to what the Bible says.  And she wants to know how God is at work at Lily the Pink.

Again, it was Arabella (Fireball) and Mary (B.B.) in the ladies’ room with me before class.

B.B. said, “Fireball, it has been tough work, but I think we finally have Stinker looking good.”

Fireball said, “Yeah, her hair is all in place, and I am so thankful that you are teaching me all these quick techniques to hide imperfections.”

I huffed, “Fireball, are you suggesting that I am not perfect?”

B.B. snickered.  Fireball replied, “Oh, no, teacher, you are as perfect as you can get.  That is, except for the tail.”

I growled, “Fireball, I do not have a tail!”

Fireball asked, “Then what’s that thing you have wagging on your backside?”

I reached around to set what prank they had pulled.  B.B. said, “She made you look!”

“You two!  We have a Sunday school class.  Let’s get in the mood for it!”

We got in the room to find almost standing room only.

Mercedes said, “Mary Jo told me that you call out the new people in the second week, so Mike and I have been reading the assignments every day.”

I smiled, “That’s great.  I sometimes wait two weeks, but I will be sure to go to you today.  Do you have a nickname?”

Mercedes said, “Some people call me Mercy.  I have wondered if that is a good name or not.  It might mean that I need Mercy.”

I snickered, “We all need Mercy, and I think that is a beautiful name.”

I nodded for Joseph to lead us in prayer.

Emmett led us with I Believe in a Hill Called Mount Calvary by Bill and Gloria Gaither.

Samuel said, “Aunt Jemima, what is the attribute of God that we are studying today?”

I smiled, “As if you didn’t know Samuel, our attribute of God is His Perfection.”

Arabella’s sighed.  “Mr. Dictionary, I know what perfection means.  You are dismissed.”

Easy turned to me, “Can I leave?”

I huffed, “No, I need you by my side, Sweetie.  Besides, I am so glad Arabella fell for my trap.”  Arabella gasped.  “We all know how to make a one hundred on a test.  We have a few in the classroom here that have never made a ‘B’.”

Arabella quipped, “I thought only God can make bees.”

I knew she was up to something.  I asked, “What are you talking about?”

Arabella smiled, “You know, bees, honeybees.  Like Buzzzzzzzzz.”

I bowed my head and shook it.  This was simply too much.  I replied, “No, what I am saying is that we set a standard and then when we meet that standard, we say that we are perfect, or we played a perfect game.  But we could have done better.  Do we have any bowlers?”  Blake raised his hand. “Blake, what’s a perfect score?”

Blake replied, a little less frog-like than usual so he must be responding to the treatment, “Three hundred.  That means twelve strikes in a row.”

Darrell said, “Whenever I play, I never get a strike.  I get to roll the ball down the alley twenty times, sometimes twenty-one if I get lucky with a spare in the last frame.  So, I guess I have more fun than you do.”

Blake retorted, “Yeah, like I have more fun on the golf course than you do when I shoot 120 compared to your ninety, but it doesn’t feel that way.”

I laughed, “Okay, let’s get back to the bowling analogy, but golf is maybe better.  To get a strike, the best way is to curve the ball at the right angle and hit the pocket.  Between which pins?”

Blake said, “For right handers, between the one and the three pins.  Lefties, it would be between the one and two pins.”

I asked, “Can you get a strike when you don’t hit the pocket perfectly?”

Blake said, “Sure, I have seen a strike when you didn’t even hit the one pin; that’s the head pin.  I have seen the ten pin left standing, but a pin on the far side bounce out of the gutter and roll across the alley to knock it over.  But, before we go further, I average about 200, but I have never come close to a perfect game.”

I nodded, “That’s okay.  I am more of a Darrell type bowler, and if I ever played golf, you might beat me.  But my point is that if you had that weird pin roll across the alley, and that led to a perfect game, your rolling of the bowling ball was not perfect.  And Darrell, the standard in golf is par, right?”  He nodded.  “But you can do better than par, right?”  He nodded again.  “But maybe you could play with Jesus and He hits a hole in one on every whole.”

Darrell groaned, “But you can’t do that.  The clubs and ball flight are designed for a specific distance.”

I sighed, “But Jesus can control the winds and the waves.  He hits a high shot, and the wind drives the ball to the hole.  God is a kind of perfect, just like He is Holy.  What we think as perfection does not come close.  Right, Mr. Dictionary?”

Easy looked like he was almost asleep, his usual countenance, “That sums it up pretty well.  So, now that you are doing definitions, maybe I can leave.”

I groaned, “Just for that remark…”

Easy (Psalm 50:2): “From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth.”

Easy shrugged, “So, God is so perfect, He is perfect in beauty.  So perfect, God shines.”

I snickered, “There might be some poetic license here since God is a spirit.  Maybe Jesus was the most handsome man that ever walked the earth, and when He was transfigured into His glory, He glowed.  So, there could be both literal and figurative meaning here.”

Mercy (Deuteronomy 32:4): “He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.”

Mercy said, “This one verse says a lot.  His works are perfect.  So that means the things that He does.  It says that He does nothing wrong.  That’s like saying He does everything right.  And it says He is just, so when He judges someone, they get what they deserve.”

I shrugged, “That was a great summation, Mercy, but you forgot one thing that is not in this verse.”  Mercy looked confused.  “Mercy, God shows us mercy.  So, if we ask Jesus to come into our heart and we trust Him in everything, we do not get what we deserve.  We get mercy instead.”

Mercy smiled.  I better make a note of that.  She doesn’t smile much.

Mike Lothrop (2 Samuel 22:31) “’As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him.”

Mike smiled, “God is not only perfect in what He does, but how He does it, His ways.  Flawless is another way of saying perfect, and we can count on Him when we take refuge in Him.  It’s kind of what Mr. Williams said about making a strike when a pin rolled across the alley to knock the last pin down.  God would always hit the right spot so that did not need to happen.”

I smiled, “Very good, Mike!  And since you and Mercy are new.  We are kind of on a first name basis.”

Zuzka added, “Except Jemima is called Aunt Jemima by the middle school and high school children.  And of course, our Mr. Dictionary.  But that just in class.  You are very nice boy to show respect to elders at Lily the Pink.  But we all seem to call Dr. Ben and Dr. Ellie, but not Angus.  He professor too.  It confuse me.”

Mike shrugged, “Other than the little kids, practically everyone is my elder here.”

Dr. Ben (Job 37:16) “Do you know how the clouds hang poised, those wonders of him who has perfect knowledge?”

Sophia asked, “Who said that?!”

I laughed, “Elihu, the latecomer to the party.”

Dr. Ben said, “I feel a little like Blaise.  He gets the long reads, and now you are picking on the meteorologist to answer the cloud question?  Remember, you and Mr. Dictionary are about to get your degrees on the subject.”

I said, “And now you know why Dr. Ben and Dr. Ellie have doctor in front of their names.  If Mr. Dictionary and I show them disrespect, it might show up on our report cards.  Angus on the other hand may look gruff, but he’s a teddy bear.

Angus huffed, “Beware, Lassie, I may look like a teddy bear, but I have a sgian dubh in my hose.  For you who are not familiar, a sgian dubh is a ‘black knife,’ not for the color but for its sinister use, to disembowel one’s enemy at very close range.”  He pulled it from the sheath.  The blade was only maybe three inches long.  Then Angus laughed and put the knife away.  “When I am with a rowdy crowd, I leave the knife at home.  Someone might get too rowdy.”

Missy leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, “Don’t worry, Sweetie, you have me to protect you.”

Angus sighed, “Och, Lass, but who will protect me from you?”

Sophia moaned, “Em, remember that line.  That was so romantic.”

Emmett replied, “But I don’t have a Scottish accent.”

Zuzka (Isaiah 25:1) “Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago.”

Zuzka said, “We talk about God cannot lie.  So when He say, He do.  He faithful to us even when we still make mistake.”

Lauren came over from the play area and patted Menzie on the knee, “Mommie!  The buses!”

I smiled, “I want to wish everyone a Happy Palm Sunday. I am thinking of making something else our benediction, but I will wait until after next week.  Next week, we will be talking about how these attributes of God affect us.  But as we have been doing, let’s end with our benediction.  Everyone, bow your heads in prayer.  ‘“‘The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.’”’” (Numbers 6:24-26)

Credits

I am using suggested Bible verses from The Attributes of God, A Journey into the Father’s Heart by A.W. Tozer, in two volumes. My two volumes have a Study Guide by David E. Fessenden, which is designed for each chapter of Tozer’s book. I may review those chapters to keep Stinker from straying too much, but the nature of her class is that the class tends to stray anyway. I am not using Rev. Tozer’s comments directly.

Then again, only the first Scripture used was in that chapter, and this completes this two-volume set.

And here is I Believe in a Hill Called Mount Calvary sung by the Gaither Vocal Band (Michael English, Wes Hampton, David Phelps, Mark Lowry, and Bill Gaither – probably 2009-2014).  Michael English has had his well-documented troubles, and his emotional solo about God changing us is from the heart.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.