Sometimes the answer to our problems is right in front of us and we don't
know it. For instance, take the billions of dollars lost each year by the post
office. Go back a few years and find the exact date when Sears quit mailing out
its catalogs, and I think we may have found the fault. Did anyone ever figure
in the millions that Sears spent each year, mailing out their 10 pound wish
books to America? Two times a year? The postage on the Christmas book alone
would keep small states afloat. And all the things we shipped, parcel post,
long before brown took over. Perhaps another casualty of the Internet, but
maybe we lost more than postage fees when they quit printing the catalog.
The catalog was almost the perfect book. It was stout enough to be its own
desk, and could provide countless nights when nothing was on TV, you didn't have
a date, or you were lonely and just needed a friend. Or you had some money from
your first paycheck, how can I spend it on my first car? In it you found Ted
Williams, Teddy Ballgame, fighter pilot, hall of fame, telling you about the
joys of fishing. You were able to influence your parents of the safety merits
of an English racer, because Ted said so, and no one ever said anything bad
about JC Higgins! You were able to learn math, by figuring ounces and
pounds-the shipping weight, and then matching it to your shipping zone, also
learning all about US geography. You learned how to fill out paperwork, as
accuracy counted when filling out the order form. Color, let's see, the
wrenches are chrome, right? Tires were black...Size....no room for all of them
to list...and the problem solving part of your brain got an exercise too. And
we all learned why you wrote in pencil!
But as we got older, and closer to the magic age of obtaining a driver's
license, the brand names changed. No more Kenner, Mattel, Marx, Ideal, or
Tonka. Craftsman meant something, and even though we weren't sure what all the
tools were, we knew men used them, and we were almost there. Power tools, too,
no more muscle, we had power! Plug me in! We learned Die Hard batteries were
the best for our cars, and that Sears branded radials were made by Michelin, in
Mexico. And we became sharp shoppers by using these bits of info to keep our
first cars alive. But hidden from parents, but not from our teen eyes, was a
section of minibikes. And being included in the Sears catalog gave us a great
bargaining position with our parents, sometimes. "Dad, it says here that Ted
Williams had a minibike..." But for over 20 years, in the 50's-70's, Sears also
sold motorcycles in the catalog. Allstates, and they really did, I have seen
them at shows. Just never knew anyone who bought one. But these Italian made,
Allstate branded bikes, would be shipped to your door, still in the crate, just
like the dealers. And using your Craftsman tools to assemble, you would be the
most popular guy on the street, as neighbors would stop by, wanting to know what
was in the crate, and then warning you how dangerous they were. Only making it
more exciting, but adding another lesson to you ever increasing
knowledge-metrics. It seems the bolts on your Dad's Rambler, or Ford, or Chevy
were standard-1/4, 5/16, 3/8, etc. These were 6,8,10mm. We won't get into
Whitworth here, no one ever fully understood them anyway. Maybe those guys in
auto shop were sharper than we thought.
For the Sears catalog was more than a catalog, it was a wish book, a place
to dream, and a place to make plans out of. It was America, and America could
be found in it. But like most progress, it went on for too long, and now we
have the Internet. Lap tops. Devices you can't take into the bathroom and
read, you can't sneak under the covers after lights out, and can't use as a
table top for writing. No Sears catalog ever crashed, and for years would
provide a ready and willing access to the past, and an entrance way to our
future. Maybe it is fitting that its demise should be responsible for the post
office going broke. A part of America died with it. And us. And still there
is nothing like turning the pages of a book, finding something to mark the
pages, and referring to it later. How can they call it a bookmark, when it is
neither a marker, and there is no book? And just when we need the Sears catalog
once more, they are gone. Forever.
We never saw it coming, so we were shocked. So wake up America, for we are
in jeopardy of losing another icon, one more precious than we will ever know
once it is gone. For years, when travelling, older than the Sears catalog, the
Gideon's have placed Bibles in motel rooms. How many times have I myself used
them, and found relief after a long day. Or found solace to a nagging problem.
Or reread the gospels, and was reassured that Jesus rose from the dead, and so
will I someday. That God sent Him because He loves us, and we can be saved.
All found in one book, provided free of charge, that is made available by men
and women around the world, their mission, the great commission given by
Jesus-making disciples of men.
But the Bible is illegal in many countries, and is on an endangered list
here in the US of A. If God isn't welcome in school, His book isn't either.
Some are only let in as "historical books," good enough for history, just not
good enough for us. Or maybe too good, for the truth in it upsets those in
sin. And as the Book of Mormon, and Hindu sayings, and other so called
religious books are also found in these same motel rooms, the Bible can handle
the competition. Can we? We lost the Sears catalog, and the identities that
went with it, what will happen when we wake up and the Bibles are outlawed?
Will we all be outlaws? Will right have become wrong, like the Bible teaches?
Or will we just go on to something else, shopping elsewhere for salvation, and
missing the only real chance to have it?
When Russia becomes China, becomes Korea, becomes India, becomes the US,
where will we turn? We can still turn to God, and Jesus will still be calling
for us then. So why wait, if it is too hard to trust Him now, how will you when
it becomes illegal? When there are no Sunday services to miss, or Bible studies
to make fun of? Where will you turn for help?
The Sears catalog was never a religious book, but we may be able to learn
something about God from its passing. If we don't use what He has given us, we
stand to lose the blessings. To some it was only a catalog, but to so many
others, a way of life. An educational book. A place for dreams, and to dream.
A place where minibikes were ok, and America shopped. It was personal. Don't
let this happen to your Bible. For it is all the above, and more. It is God's
word, and when gone, we all miss the chance to spend time with Him. Ask God
into your life today, and let Him write His word on your heart. Spend time with
Him, learn about Him, and get close to Jesus. Don't ever think it can't happen
to us. It would be a sad day when you had to sneak your Bible under the covers
in secret to read it. Learn its value now, before it is too late.
We only want the things we can't get...the gospel is still free and
available, for now. And Bibles used to be available in the Sears catalog. The
gospel is free-just like the catalogs, that are now gone forever. Don't wait
before it is too late. Just ask the post office....The Bible, still the perfect
book.
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com