By Bobby R. Henry, Sr.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct[a] your paths”. Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV)
Sitting down looking over my back yard, for certain reasons I thought about the turtle. I do not know if it had anything to do with the up and coming Father’s Day and how some of our fathers have become turtle like in their behaviors, in how they avoid perceive problems which are in reality responsibilities.
The turtle, when trouble surrounds him he simply tucks his head back into his shell until the “all clear is given” and the troubles have subsided.
Once the storms have passed, he assuredly sticks his head back out and continues on his way.
He appears to rely on his biological, always accessible, inseparable shelter to be the where-withal for enduring any storm and the proper reply for getting to the bottom of any of his concerns.
The negative aspect to this innate characteristic is that the turtle can not move forward or backward from any impending dangers as long as his head is tucked inside- he can’t improve his situation.
This image of a cowardly move was not in the mode of my hero Touché Turtle (pronounced too-shay turtle) who was a cartoon character from one of the segments of The New Hanna-Barbera Cartoon Series, in 1962.
Touché Turtle and Dum Dum were a pair of heroic sword combatants who fought dreadful characters and courageously protected those in distress. Touché was the daring and fashion-able leader who never tucked his head into his shell; he faced the challenges head on.
I could not see in my mind’s eye Touché Turtle battling obstacles without conjuring up images of ‘Sheriff Bing Bing Bing Ricochet Rabbit’.
What would it be like if we confronted our situations in the manner of the name Sheriff Bing Bing Bing Ricochet Rabbit?
“Ricochet Rabbit and Deputy Droop-a-Long Coyote were two officers of the law in the Old West in another Hanna-Barbera cartoon series. The duo confronted delinquents and criminals whom Sheriff Ricochet would arrest with the use of his special ricochet bullets.
What away to live; hiding from everything and then not having any directions only to be bounced around like the chrome ball in an arcade pinball machine.
Without faith, trust and a will to try life can be just like those Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters-the only difference being the reality of your dilemmas.
This is one part of life where I would not want my life to be imitated by art.
“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus”. Philippians 3:13-14 (KJV)
From the song Lighthouse
…And I thank God for the lighthouse I owe my life to Him Jesus is the Lighthouse And from the rocks of sin He has shown a light around me That I might clearly see If it wasn’t for the lighthouse Tell me where would this ship be?…
Happy Father’s Day!