HOW NOT WHAT

When Nimbus was in the fifth grade people would put their heads together, lower their voices and say, “There goes an odd one.”  During recess all the other boys and girls would spend their time balling the ball, sliding on slides, and tagging at tag.   BUT, Nimbus would spend his time head down walking back and forth back and forth across the playground searching for pebbles of different shapes and colors.  AND people would put their heads together, lower their voices and say, “There goes an odd one.”  BUT every time a classmate would fall, Nimbus would stop, go to the one hurt, bend over brush the dirt off a scraped knee, cradle a twisted ankle, and wipe a tear away.  When the classmate was better, Nimbus would rise to his feet, extend his hand, smile and say, “Are you ready?”

When Nimbus was in the fifth grade people would put their heads together, lower their voices and say, “There goes an odd one.”  During lunch time the other boys and girls bought hamburgers and hot dogs, ice cream sandwiches and chocolate malts, chips and cookies.  BUT Nimbus would always eat the same thing; a peanut butter sandwich, a ruby red apple, and wash it down with a long drink at the water fountain.  AND people would put their heads together, lower their voices and say, “There goes an odd one.”  BUT when a classmate lost her lunch money, Nimbus gave her half of everything he had, bought a chocolate malt and asked for two straws.  When the classmate finished eating he rose to his feet, extended his hand, and said, “Are you satisfied?”

When Nimbus was in the fifth grade people would put their heads together, lower their voices and say, “There goes an odd one.”  The teacher announced the semester science project would be to create an insect collection and correctly name each one.  At the end of the semester the boys and girls brought their collections to present to the teacher and the class.  The boys and girls brought flawless collections mounted in beautiful glass display cases or suspended in awe inspiring acrylic.  BUT Nimbus brought his collection in a white shirt box with insects secured with straight pins, each insect correctly named on small rectangles of notebook paper taped under each specimen, and on the lid of the box in black felt tip pen it read NIMBUS’ INSECT COLLECTION.  AND people would put their heads together, lower their voices and say, “There goes an odd one.”  BUT one day while searching for insects with his butterfly net made of mother’s tulle, a clothes hanger, and a stick from the back yard Nimbus came across a puppy dumped in the dry river bed behind the park.  Nimbus took the puppy home, cleaned him up, and gave him food and water every day till he died at the age of 19.

When Nimbus was in the fifth grade people would put their heads together, lower their voices and say, “There goes an odd one.”

BUT

When Nimbus was at the 7th grade dance he found great joy in asking all the girls no one else would ask to dance and he not only became a good dancer but also president of the senior class in high school.

When Nimbus went to the university he earned a degree in geology, and spent his career helping a large international company discover and extract oil from shale.

When Nimbus was 25 he fell in love with Reva, they were married a year later, having 3 children and seven grandchildren.  When Nimbus was 88 years old he found himself standing by a hospital bed holding Reva’s hand who lay dying.  He looked across the bed into his Pastor’s eyes and said, “I’ve loved this woman all my life.”

When Nimbus was in the fifth grade people would put their heads together, lower their voices and say, “There goes an odd one.” 

BUT sometimes he made his teacher cry.

“Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’  “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed.  So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ Matthew 25: 24-29

No sane person wakes up in the morning saying, “I am going to destroy my life,” and those who are ill are respected for their endurance under difficult circumstances. Do not live by the fear of making bad decisions,  but make many decisions without fear based on good principles.  The children in our story who played ball, ate ice cream sandwiches, and displayed insects in acrylic were not making bad decisions.  Like Nimbus, they were just making decisions. 

The environment in the wilderness is constantly changing.  It can be 65 degrees and sunny one day and 27 degrees and icy the next.  A tree that stood in one place for one hundred years can lose its footing and be swept down the river tomorrow.  What is important are the principles upon which we make our decisions.  Principled action creates a legacy more enduring than any trust fund.  Hear the Good News, "Be free to make your own decisions based upon the highest principles."