In my formative years in school, I did not like to read Aesop’s fables or other make-believe material. I made a promise to myself that all the rest of my life would be devoted to factual material. Two times, I set aside that promise to read a couple of books for my wife.

My reason for excluding “Fables” helped me through a rough time of learning what is real and what isn’t. Today, I have learned a lesson and now know how to pick out fake facts in our world. Ever since I can remember, I have been keenly interested in anything that is antique. Being born in the mid-thirties, makes me an antique human who loves old things. But more than that I love the old stories of the Bible, those from the beginning of time.

Most antique shops have a selection of old postcards that were sent to relatives 50-100 years ago. Each has a story on the back. Visiting in another state, I saw a card that started in Marshalltown and made its way to Harrisburg, Pa. I bought it there at a coin/card show. Seventy-five years ago a mother stopped in Marshalltown to send a greeting to her son in Harrisburg. “Everything is going well,” she said. “But I am afraid you are going to make a fool of yourself. We will get you to the seashore when we get there. “The Atlantic is about one hundred miles from Harrisburg and there are many rides available. Obviously, they had been in contact with each other prior to this card. Relatives were taking care of Floyd back home but he was getting awful antsy to get to New Jersey. All the mother could do until she got home was, plead to Floyd’s conscience; “don’t make a fool of yourself.”

Wouldn’t you think that God might have the same concern for his earthly children: don’t make a fool of your self! Floyd Bowers had a name to uphold in Harrisburg, just as we have a name to uphold here.

God asks the same from us; don’t make a fool of yourselves, or my name. God can only appeal to our conscience and the stories we know to be true, about him. While we wait for our time to go home, may we not make a fool of ourselves nor sully the good name of God … he desires praise.