Tip of My Iceberg

I’m a huge fan of change. Boredom is my nemesis. Too much of the same gets me in trouble.

Except when life is undone by Daylight Savings Time.

The jumping ahead an hour messes up my everything. Sleep isn’t returned. It takes days to get into a routine that fits.

We’re no longer an agrarian society that needs later light for harvest. The only thing I’m harvesting right now are dust bunnies under my couch.

I stayed up too late on Saturday night and woke up resentful for losing an hour of sleep.

Talk about blame shifting.

Having gone to church on Saturday night, we were able to take it a little easier Sunday. John flipped through channels and came across a show called Strange Inheritance, showcasing the oldest amusement park in America–Trimper’s Amusement Park in Ocean City, Maryland.

It’s one of the few family-owned parks left in the U.S. Most parks are owned by huge conglomerates–think Disney and Universal. Founded in 1893, it’s been owned by five generations of Trimpers. The beautiful carousel and other rides have huge historic value. The carousel is hand-carved, one of only two of that kind ever in the U.S. The other one, on Coney Island, was destroyed by fire.

The land it sits on, however, is worth a lot of money. Much more than the profits each year from park revenues. The challenge for the family is there are those who want to sell it and take the money and those who want to keep it as a legacy to those who built and maintained it for over a hundred years.

What’s the value of history?

It became clear, as the program progressed, that the issue was convictions versus comfort and convenience. Daniel Trimper IV now runs the park with his sons and is committed to retaining the legacy built by his family. He knows he’d make a lot more money if he sold, but money isn’t the issue for him. Doing what’s right by his family is.

Conviction versus comfort and convenience. How often have I found myself in that predicament, wanting to make the right decisions but pulled by the promise of ease and more stuff? How deep and valued are my convictions? How strong is the pull of “more” in my life?

My choices will reflect the value of my convictions.

That doesn’t always play out the way I’d like. I fall to temptation too much when I’m driven by what I want. Not thinking about the consequences.

We all need a sense of absolute right and wrong, a solid basis from which to make decisions consistently, with integrity. Where do I get my foundation of right and wrong?

God is my basis of absolutes. He doesn’t waver in His standards; He’s very clear about what is good to choose and what’s not. His choices aren’t random to punish us should we stray–we all will stray. His standards protect and provide for us. Out of love.

Like any good Parent would do.

I respect what Daniel Trimper is doing. It takes guts to go against the popular and profitable opinion.

That’s a “same old” I can get behind.