Around the World in 88 Years -E Book - Arthur Burt

And that’s why I was mentioning the possibility of writing a book,How to be Ordinary. Not extraordinary. I don’t know that I’m fitto write a book on how to be ordinary because I don’t want tobe ordinary. God’s dealing with me, but I’m still putting the goodsin the shop window.Get rid of the spider.Once in Kennedy Airport with several hours to wait, I browsedthrough a shop, picking up a girlie magazine. I had looked thisway and that way to make sure no one was around who knewme, because after all, preachers should not do anything but readtheir Bibles. What I saw interested me. I liked it.After a while, I had occasion to go to the rest room. I tucked themagazine under my arm and was making my way up the concoursewhen a Hare Krishna girl came up to me. She pinned acarnation on my buttonhole and tried to sell me a book.“Look,” I said in a very superior, spiritual tone, “I am not seeking.I have found.”As quick as a flash of lightening, she whipped the magazine outfrom under my arm, opened it, spread it out in front of me, andasked, “Is this what you’ve found?”I felt as if I was looking into the eyes of God. Ashamed andconfused, I moved away from her, mumbling something like, “Iam only answerable to God.”I was, and still am, disgusted with what I had done. If I couldhave bent down and kicked myself around the airport, I wouldhave done it — not so much because of the issue of the magazine— but for the humbug, the hypocrisy. I was so superior beforethis girl, like a spiritual Pharisee.We pay heavily for being out of the will of God in our attitudes.We always do. Thank God, in His mercy and grace, He takeshold of our folly and turns even our stupid actions into somethingfor His glory. Occurrences like that demonstrate the differencebetween cause and effect, between what we term “pride”and “sin”, like the difference between the spider and the cobweb.Get rid of the spider, and that will put an end to the webs.200