Bunches of Parts

It was just too cold to head into the woods this morning, so a decision was made to perform a task long on the procrastination list. Some months ago my amazing bride purchased a Purple Martin House. . .to be constructed (boxed insanity). She has asked me on several occasions to put it together. Uh huh. Sure. Second Tuesday next week.

I chose today to finally make her happy. After all, I had all morning, at least, before it was warm enough to head outside. I began about 8am by bringing the box (small) into the house and placing it on the dining table. On opening the box I found (by conservative estimate) 6,483,657 parts (and fortunately I found every one of them). But, I am a man of great intellect and drive. Really, just a piece of cake.

It is now (as I sit to write this) 4:45pm. I have it together. I know some things I did not know before I started. These parts are not designed for bad eyesight, arthritic hands, and short tempers. They are tiny, reading the directions (which a real man never does) is mandatory, even though it doesn’t help. I considered running away from home several times.

It got me to thinking about the Church of Jesus Christ. It also has (by conservative estimate) 835,452 moving parts. Trying to get it “together” requires years of work and an unrelenting commitment to Truth and Llove. The real issue with the Church, however, is that many of the “parts” are missing. They just don’t bother to come, do their part, learn Truth or practice llove. Every part of the Family suffers from the inattention that is rampant in almost every Church, and especially those who have so few “parts” that even one missing is a major stumbling block to getting it “together,” and becoming collectively “a dwelling place for God.” See 1 Corinthians 3:9-18

Hebrews 10:25 came to mind. . .again. If I had discovered missing parts today working on the bird house, I would have lost it. I would still be “beside myself.” Goodness, I hope that does’t happen down at the local Church.