Toby Veck is one of my heroes. He is a man with observations. Toby is Dicken’s protagonist in The Chimes, one of his other Christmas stories. “Nothing is more likely to come around as dinner time and less likely to come around as dinner.” Toby’s observations (or obserwashions) are as good as any other modern aphorist. My own inclination to puns and irony are less insightful. But I can be just as proud of them as Toby Veck is of his.
The Foreman’s Observations
This is not my own parable. But I observe its truth every day. There once was a lumberjack who had more strength than any other in his area. The first day of his new job he cut down a total of 21 trees. His foreman was impressed and paid him a little extra for going beyond his quota. The lumberjack thought to himself, “I can do even better with more time.” So, he got to work and hour earlier. But he only cut down 19 trees. The boss was still impressed and paid for the extra trees. But the lumberjack was perplexed. He decided he would start another hour earlier.
The third day he cut down 16 trees. Since it was only one tree over the quota, the boss did not pay any extra or overtime. Determined to work even harder the lumberjack shows up before dawn and starts chopping away. But he only cuts 11 trees which was 4 below the quota. His foreman chastises him about his lack of work. The lumberjack replies, “I don’t know what’s wrong.” He then describes how he came to work earlier and earlier but only cut fewer trees each day. The foreman then asks, “When was the last time you sharpened your axe?”
I do not remember where I read this story. It stuck with me enough to recognize the failure of maintaining my physical and spiritual health when both nearly collapsed. The observations of the foreman finally got to the problem. But the boss did not recognize the problem until it was almost too late. The lumberjack needed to know maintain the tools was part of the job.
Gun And Violence “Solutions”
I was asked as a candidate for city school board about the proposal to arm school teachers. This solution, like all “good guys with guns” solutions involves purchasing guns. It is not surprising that the “gun lobby” recommends selling more guns. Among my observations of the matter is that few people appear to know this is the point. Arming teachers, better equipping police, and the citizenry is couched in rhetoric concerning “the 2nd Amendment Right to Bear Arms (2ARBA).” But it is about putting more money in the hands of gun manufacturers.
What if the Sackler family and Purdue Pharma suddenly came up with a cure for oxycontin addiction? I would be suspicious about when they knew their drug was addictive. But I would also ask if the addictive drug was marketed in order to sell the cure. I feel like that about gun manufacturers. It is interesting to me that gun sales increase after mass shootings. Fearing that the government will take away the 2ARBA by using the mass shooting as an excuse, people run out and purchase more deadly drugs of choice.
Observations of Accusers
People wanting to cause harm often accuse the victims of wanting to cause harm. Gaslighting is a form of this behavior. I notice the people wishing to ban books accuse their opponents of taking away the rights of parents. Hillsdale College lost charter school proposals all over the state of Tennessee after its president said how stupid teachers are. Now they send out ads claiming curricula should be based on parental and local schools. The ads specifically state school standards are not to be set by the state or the school district. Local schools are the school district. And Hillsdale is attempting to get the state to overrule the local districts.
Church leaders are better at this than most people. The splinter group within the United Methodist Church claims the Bishops are violating the UM Book of Discipline. Now they advise churches to withhold their apportionment payments encouraging them to violate the connectional system and membership vows.
An accuser laying out his case to the congregation that we progressives “deny the inspiration of scripture, the lordship and redemptive work of Jesus Christ.” But offered no definition of what these terms mean so the congregation can determine if these accusations are true. Worse yet, the claim is made that the United Methodist “brand” is damaged in such a way to make local ministry difficult. Excuse me, but who damaged the brand? The false accusers did.
Our Hope
Dicken’s narrator says, “I take my stand with Toby Veck.” So do I. Toby hears the bells of the nearby church. He imagines they ring in good news. He does not think of it theologically. The good news is that a messenger job will come his way; and he will get dinner at dinner time. But he allows his hope to be taken away by people he considers better than himself materially, educationally, and socially. It is then the chimes summon him to account for his loss of hope. Toby is brought to judgment and finds redemption.
Despite the gaslighting, false accusations, and other evils heaped upon us, we cannot lose the hope we hold onto to keep us going. Our spiritual and physical health is important. They, like the axes of lumberjacks, must be maintained and sharpened for the work we are called to do.
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