Some things in life can’t be duplicated. Only the original article will ever do. I found out the hard way when my wife sent me to the store for pickles and ketchup for our cookout. Thinking my taste buds would not recognize my frugality, I was grossly mistaken. The pickles I love are always crisp and crunchy. The knock-off store brand which I purchased, tasted like vinegar gummy worms. The signals my taste buds sent to my brain was, “spit out the limp dog biscuit”!” I immediately banished the pickle imposters to the round file and secretly prayed that a curious raccoon would not find the jar. I feared the whole raccoon population would band together and assault my garbage cans out of spite because they were duped too. The ketchup wasn’t any better. It tasted like somebody poured boiling water over a tomato and bottled the puddle of water. It too found it’s rightful place next to the pickles on it’s great adventure to a county landfill. Nothing but the genuine article for me from now on!

I imagine life is like the less than stellar ketchup. People appear like the genuine article; they have a familiar look, exude charm, appear just right. However after one encounter, the taste some people leave in your mouth can be a whole other matter.

I yearn for a world where I can walk into a store and I won’t be frazzled by children whose parents are too lazy to raise their children with respect. I want to walk into a voting booth and pull the lever for a candidate without having to hold my nose. I want to read a newspaper or see a news program where a person who professes to be a faithful follower of any and all religions of peace not embarrass the tenets of their faith by acting like destructive morons. I believe the world does not need another fiery sermon or oratory, it needs a positive life lesson from someone genuine, done without words.

A do-it-yourself pastor decided one day that his back yard needed a new arbor. His wife had been asking for one for some time so he decided to get out his toolbox and get to work. A young neighborhood boy sat nearby watching intently. After a few hours, the pastor said to the child, “Are you watching me to see how you build an arbor?” The little boy replied, “No.” The pastor responded, “then why have you been sitting here watching me for so long?” The little boy replied with purpose, “Because I always wanted to know what a pastor said when he hit his thumb with a hammer!”

Secretly, we’ve all wondered that same question. But being a Pastor I’m not telling! But come to my house and build a gazebo with me, and I’m confident you’ll find the answer, and hopefully the genuine article too!