No Substitutes - Thank You Very Much

We live with substitutes in every area of our lives. Instead of sugar in our coffee, we use artificial sweeteners. At the drive-thru, instead of the high calorie combo meal, we'll order a health-conscience salad with fat-free dressing. When you want to talk to a friend but the cell phone is dead, you can send an instant message instead.

But then we had already substituted coffee for good cold water and fast food drive thrus for a home cooked meal – at home with your family. Then we added a cell phone or two to our lives and never visit each other – because that would take time and maybe even an inconvenience.

My life has many substitutes. How about yours?

Substitutes have caused lots of problems as well. Take a look at the Pet Food Crisis lately and the problem with our own food systems and the many additives that have clogged our own systems… mad cow disease and the like have us all worried. Have you thought of it?

Recently in Africa as we traveled through parts of two cities in Kenya – choices have been made to substitute clean air for foul air. The spew of diesel fumes from the tail pipes of buses and trucks has clogged the lungs of everyone. I wrote of that recently as I struggled for my breath in that dirty climate. It was like trying to take a long cool breath of air through a drinking straw.

Substituting good clean air in order to move people faster and further is too great a price.
One Kenyan man told me that he used to have to walk 10 miles each way to work – but with the buses that run through the country now – he is able to get there in ONE hour – before it took a day to walk - in clean air... hmmm?

I watched TV this AM and the snarl of traffic in Toronto at rush hour was nuts. There was a blockage somewhere and no one was going anywhere… but all the motors both diesel and gasoline were running steadily as the vehicles inched forward.

Do I sound like I am a "green" minded person? Not really – I carve trees and wood – not hug them. I am just doing a reality check of my life today – I need the real thing instead of substitutes. I need to be with real people not a video edition of the unreal thing.

Recently I walked into the room of an older person that was watching a very old video tape of a favorite Southern Gospel Group of hers. I had first viewed the video tape about 10 years ago – and it was old then. The fact that almost all of the performers on the tape were now dead – didn’t seem to faze the older person. The testimonies and jokes were all old and stale – but it was her substitute for an alive daily experience of what could be with others and God. It was sad – a substitute for something alive. She seldom leaves her room to meet others – she watches old videos that ‘bless her’.

With so many substitutes out there, what is the substitute for talking with God? Nothing.

I prefer the real thing in my coming old age. I need real clean air – not clean air on a wide screen TV. I want a real conversation with my neighbour – not a phone call. I need a real hug from my grandkids – not a card bought at a cheapo store! I want real. So do others. How about you?

~ Pastor Murray Lincoln ~