As I was driving through Tupelo this weekend, I was blessed enough to see a sign from God. A church sign, that is. You know the type – the signs outside of churches usually adorned with a bit of wisdom to help us make it through the day. They have moveable letters, like the ones that display the price of gas, except you’re happy to see them. I usually only have a fleeting interest in these signs. They bring a brief smile to my face, but then I usually eject them from my memory, replacing them with something more relevant to my everyday life, such as how many home runs Mark McGwire hit in the 1996 postseason.
However, this sign was different. This sign made sense. This sign pierced through my soul and even through my body. The sign read, “Promises is [sic] like the trash. Carry them out everyday.”
Think about that. Think about that twice. Now stop thinking about it, because I’m going to explain it to you. Otherwise it might not make sense, and you might miss out on something crucial, something holy.
Embedded in this message is all you will ever need to know about life, love or liturgy. But it’s not just handed to you on a silver platter. You have to work for it. For the first sentence in particular, there’s much more than meets the eye.
“Promises is like the trash.” This sentence seems counterintuitive. Its message looks wrong, and it probably makes you very angry. How can promises be like the trash? God loves promises. He said so. He swore He did.
So why would He want it said that they is like the trash? Because the sentence merely draws you to the conclusion. It’s a clever ploy to attract you to the closer, what He really wants to win you over with.
“Carry them out everyday.” This is the true message. Just as you should carry out your trash on a daily basis, you should also carry out your promises! That is why they is like the trash! I get it!
Promises is the foundation upon which our society is built, and trash is a byproduct. This dichotomy is what makes this sign so captivating and brilliant. Upon finishing the first sentence, you are perplexed. But after finishing the second, you feel a sense of enlightenment and exhilaration.
Imagine a world in which promises is not carried out everyday. Nothing would ever be accomplished. What if Abraham Lincoln hadn’t carried out his promise to the slaves? That’s right. The $5 bill wouldn’t even exist.
So take this message to heart. Do your best to carry out your promises, because when it boils down to it, promises is not really like the trash. They is the most important thing in the world.