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John 6:30

So they asked him, "What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do?”

Give Me A Sign.....

        On my commute to work several years ago I drove through a small town and past a patrol car's flashing lights.   I guess the fellow pulled over by the policeman wasn't paying attention.   All the early morning commuters who traveled this route knew that this town had a reputation for being a speed trap.   As most small towns go the main highway cut right through the middle of town.  I couldn't wait for the completion of the bypass for the new highway!   A mile or so down the road and I caught glimpse of those flashing lights in my rear view mirror.   I made my turn onto another road leading to the interstate and low and behold, so did the car with the flashing lights!   "Must be something ahead of us,"   I mumbled to my passenger.   With no place to pull over I continued on another half mile or so and finally was able to pull into a private driveway to get out of the way of the law.   He had a criminal to catch and I was slowing him down.

        He pulled up behind me!   Things get a little fuzzy from here.   (No they don't!)   The conversation went something like this:
        Officer:   "Where are you going?"
        David:   "To work."
        Officer:   "Didn't you see me flag you down?"
        David:   "I saw you wave me on around you."
        Officer:   "YOU SAW THE WRONG SIGN!"

                My route to work each day was full of signs.   “Turn here.”  “Exit now.”  “Gas up.”  “Open.”  “Closed.”  “Merge left.”  “Stop ahead.”  “Lower your speed limit.”  “Construction work ahead.”  You name it.   I saw it.   Without a single word spoken by the time I got to work, I had been informed, told, directed, enlightened, advised and warned about where to go, how to get there and what to follow.   And usually the first thing I saw when I got to my desk was a flashing light on my computer alerting me, "You've got mail."

"Honey, can you make me a sign for my yard sale?"...."Yes, dear."....I've made signs for such requests since my wife realized she could sell my clothes for pennies on the dollar.   In fact, sometimes I'll go to her yard sale and buy back my clothes!   I’ve gotten some good bargains that way!   I've hand-painted signs for campaign ads and church picnics.   I've made signs with arrows giving people directions to our home on a hill on a country road off the main highway.  I've been painting signs for over thirty years.   And I love doing it!

        Do you follow baseball?  Are you familiar with the signs given by the third base coach to the batter and base runners?  If so, you know they don’t always get the sign right.  The multiple gestures of the coach touching his cap, scratching his chin, or blinking his eyes is supposed to be an undetectable code between him and his players.  If you miss the sign, the divine plan drawn up by the manager and coaches could go awry.  And usually the opposing team is always trying to steal the sign.  In fact, they have signs of their own too.  But as often as the game is played you can expect that sooner or later someone is going to miss the sign.

        Throughout our faith history we have been looking for a sign, some to lead us on the next stage in our journey, some to lead us to its end.   We are familiar with Noah and the ark and the heavy rains resulting from the great flood.   We know how he sent out a bird which returned with a green branch, a sign that the water was receding.   We know of travelers from the east who followed a star that led them to the Christ child.   We see signs every day.   Some catch our attention.   Some we've seen so many times we hardly recognize them as signs any longer.

        Give me a sign.   And the Master keeps saying, "They are all around you!"   A rainbow!   A snowflake!   A rose!   A newborn baby!   An empty cross!   What signs are you looking for?   Where are you looking?

        Oh, by the way, I didn't get a ticket from that small town policeman even though he said he could've issued me several.   He just told me to pay more attention to my surroundings.

Peace

 © David A. Politte

2011

I appreciate your comments.

dpolitte57@gmail.com

 

 

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