It's Elementary Watson

What makes a good cup of coffee?

Good coffee beans!

What makes a bad cup of coffee?

Too many good coffee beans!

God must have a good chuckle when He looks down from heaven and watches His children run to and fro trying to improve on His message, His methods and His means.

I was once listening to a conversation between two seminarians and truthfully although they were discussing a biblical topic, I had no idea what they were speaking about. They used the latest language of seminarians. New words. New vocabulary. New definitions. New trends.

There is a wonderful old movie called "Ten Gentlemen from West Point." It is the story of the founding of this famous mlitary academy. The commandant was a crusty old professional solider who believed that you learn by suriving the battles. And because he had survived that made him an expert.

One of the cadets a young gentleman believed that you are successful because you are born into a family of means and position. Therefore, you are automatically light years ahead because of your background and breeding.

In the mix there was a great teacher who studied strategy and war. And although he had himself never literally fought in a battle, you would never know it as he recounted battle after battle - strategies that were successful and strategies that failed.

The commandant would have none of this. For, he believed that war cannot be taught, it must be fought.

Then there was a good ol' boy from the backwoods of Kentucky. He was neither educated nor affluent. But he was raised on good old fashioned commen sense and decency. He listened to the teacher. He relied on his common sense.

These cadet soliders were called to assist in a battle against wayward indians. When they were out of the classroom onto the field of action and the field of battle, guess what happened?

The seminarian dialog vanished. The aflluence and breeding were of no help. The poor commandant was captured by the indians because he was still fighting war the old way. Who was the hero?

The man who had the commen sense who could speak the language of the people and who used his common sense in battle. When giving commands to the soldiers he simply cried, "go and get them."

It's elementary Watson. To build a solid foundation you need concrete and steel. To build up you have to go down deep. To enlarge you have to stremgthen the stakes.

There is nothing new under the sun and when we as human beings try to elevate ourselves above others in our thoughts, our words, our trendy ideas and revelations, it only takes one stroke from the hand of fate to bring us back down to earth again.

True greatness comes from knowing that we are nothing without Him.

In conclusion, it's okay to make Him laugh - let's be sure we don't make Him cry.