Surprising Discovery

My daughter Tia has always liked to draw. The little artist in her became very apparent from the time she was young. We were always buying her something new to use to draw, like glow in the dark crayons. One Sunday afternoon she was coloring away with these when I noticed the time. “It’s getting late. Run and go get dressed for Sunday evening services,” I barked. She did not have time to put up her crayons.

When we arrived home, it was evident from the crime scene in the den that the family dog, Spencer, had taken advantage of our oversight. The bits and pieces of crayons and their wrappers were littered all over the carpet. Spencer was hiding, because he knew he was in the wrong. We cleaned up the mess and did not think anything more about it.

Three or four days later I came home, ate supper, and afterward when it was dark out, I glanced outside into the black back yard. Something was odd. Something was glowing. It was here and there in several locations in the backyard. “Beverley, do we have lightening bugs” I asked my wife. “No. I have never seen any in our backyard. Besides it’s too late in the year for lightening bugs.”  My curiosity demanded I find a flashlight and investigate. The glow led me to a surprise. It was glow came from dog poop.

At this point I had one of those eureka moments. What a great invention this would be. Glow in the dark dog food, so pet owners would not have the foul experience of stepping in doggy doo doo in the dark (the last phrase I like saying it even better than writing it). Not only could they avoid such a mishap, but they could also find and pick it up and dispose of it even in the dark. This would be really handy for those who work late and have to take their dog for a walk in the park where they would be required one to pick up after their dog. However, my invention would never see the light of day. Glowing in the dark dog food never came to the shelves of the local pet store. It seems Crayola and Purina were not interested.

There have been many accidental and unintended discoveries throughout history. One of them involved walking a dog. In 1941 a Swiss electrical engineer named George de Mestral after walking his dog came home and began picking the burs out of his dog’s fur. A closer investigation of the burs led him to patent Velcro. A Raytheon engineer was working with a magnetron when he discovered the chocolate bar in his pocket melted when he was next to the running device. This led to the unexpected discovery of the microwave which is now found in many kitchens across the globe. And, made the king of microwave popcorn, Orville Redenbacher, rich.

Diabetics have been blessed with the artificial sugar substitute, “Sweet’N Low” due to an accidental discovery. A chemist forgot to wash his hands upon going to lunch. When he tasted something sweet on his fingers.

The Bible is also filled with accidental discoveries which have changed history. Moses was tending sheep when he discovered a burning bush. The city of Samaria was besieged by the Syrian army and starving to death. One day four lepers when out and accidently discovered the Syrian camp empty. God had scared them away and they left all their food supplies behind. Years later when the Assyrians were besieging Jerusalem, King Hezekiah prayed to God for help. The next day the inhabitants of capital of Judah were surprised to find 185,000 dead Assyrians outside their gates. After Naaman dipped seven times in the Jordan River he discovered that his leprosy was gone. And a couple of women along with Peter and John discovered the empty tomb of Jesus one Sunday morning.

The Bible is filled with surprises for readers who accidentally stumble on God’s will and have their lives changed forever. A homosexual finds passages condemning his lifestyle and repents. A man comes across James 2:24 and rejects salvation by faith only and is baptized for the forgiveness of sins. However, these discoveries are not accidents. God put those things in His book for us to discover. If you only pick up the Bible and start investigating its pages, you too will make some unexpected discoveries.

– Daniel R. Vess

Would You Give Up Eating Bacon?

Last Saturday my two granddaughters were sitting next to me at the dinner table. They were eating chicken nuggets. Kenzie, who is five, made the observation that chicken comes from chickens. Then she leaned over to me and asked, “so where does beef come from?” I responded, “cows.” Next she turns to her father and asked, “Ok, where does bacon come from?’ Her dad answered, “bacon comes from pigs.” With a look of great disgust Kenzie proclaimed, “Ooooo, nasty! Bacon comes out of pigs…how do they get the bacon out of pigs; do they poop it out?” After the laughter died down my first thought was, “I’m going to give up eating bacon”.  Before we become too critical of Kenzie’s explanation of how we get bacon out of pigs, consider this: have you ever seen a chicken lay and egg?

Let’s be serious for a moment. I am not about to give up eating bacon or eggs. Bacon is the candy of the meat group. Could you imagine volunteering to give it up? And let me reassure you that turkey bacon is not a suitable substitute. (Unless you are talking about a turkey wrapped in bacon). However, under the Law of Moses the Israelites could not eat pigs. They were considered unclean. According to the Islam Muslims cannot eat bacon. And even certain denominations of Christianity forbid the eating of pork. Religiously New Testament Christianity does not forbid the eating of bacon. God showed Peter a rooftop vision of a great white sheet descending from heaven with all kinds of animals, clean and unclean and told him to eat. Peter refused until God said, “What God has cleansed you must not call common” (Acts 10:15). In fact, Paul warned, “that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer” (1 Tim. 4:1-5).

Before you begin to think there will never come a time as a Christian where you would be called upon to give up bacon, think again. More than once Paul claims he would give up eating meats under certain situations. A former Jew who as a new convert may still have a conflict in his conscience about eating bacon. Therefore, Paul said, “it is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak” (Romans 14:21). Furthermore, a former idolatry may have problems eating meat that had been sacrificed to an idol. “Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble” (1 Corinthians 8:13).

There is another possibility of giving up bacon and that is for health reasons. Sadly, enough some people suffering from health issues that require them to make certain dietary sacrifices. Now I do not know whether this is true, but I read somewhere that for every strip of bacon you eat takes nine days off your life. So according to my math I should of drown during Noah’s flood.

Life is short and sometimes hard, but you can still eat bacon. Just remember to give thanks to the Creator for pigs or as I like to call them: “bacon seeds.”

— Daniel R. Vess