Dogs Playing Poker

Sometimes I wonder who the first person was to do something that has now become a part of our culture’s iconoclasm.

Who originally drew the fine American artistic piece, “Dogs Playing Poker”?  Who first melded magic with material and brought to life the original velvet Elvis?  Who is the lyrical genius who first parodied the Christmas classic by singing, “Jingle bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg…”?  For that matter, what sensitive soul first intoned that wondrous melody of old, “Do your ears hang low, do they wobble when you walk, can you tie ‘em in a bow, can you tie ‘em in a knot?”

Yes, my friends, our culture is rich with art, is it not?

So many long not to be anonymous, and yet, years down the road that will be our sad fate.  There can only be a few Lincolns or Bachs or Twains or Cronkites.  The rest of us must suffer the ignominy of history’s dust pile.  But that’s not so bad.

As a pastor, I often encourage my congregation that they do have a legacy to leave…  even if their names are forgotten down the line.  I cannot, off the top of my head, tell you my great-grandmother’s name, but I can tell you that she prayed for me long before I was ever born.  This precious family heirloom of prayer has been handed down, acknowledged, and passed on.  The wonderful thing is, when you touch a life for Christ, you are doing something that will last at least a hundred years.  You are changing a life that will change a life and so on.  Christ gets the glory – it is through Him all great things are done.  But you and I share the glory, an eternal story, that rings on through the halls of eternity.

Be help, hope and healing for someone and leave a legacy that lasts.