Thoughtful Thursday:

My Life of Crime

It all started when I was in the third grade at Ferndale Elementary School. Ferndale was a little two-room school, with grades one through four in one large classroom, and grades five through eight in the other. I was only there one year, but something happened that made a lasting impression on me.

Our teacher was Miss Irene Cornett.  She was the sweetest lady! I’m not going to say that I was the teacher’s pet, but Miss Cornett made everyone feel like they were her favorite. She once gave me an old dictionary, whose pages were worn and wrinkled, and the back was coming apart. She had gotten a new one, so she gave me this old one.  I thought it was the greatest treasure! I cherished it for many years. Perhaps that is why I still have a love for words to this day. 

One particular day, a little girl named Brenda walked up to Miss Cornett’s desk, and she obviously didn’t feel well. “Miss Cornett,” she said, “I don’t feel good. My head hurts.”  Miss Cornett touched Brenda’s forehead with the back of her hand. Then she looked straight at me, and said, “Mary, would you come here please?” I walked to her desk, and she pressed a quarter into the palm of my hand.  “Mary, would you walk over to Norman’s Store and buy a little bottle of Coca Cola for Brenda?”

Norman’s store was located just a stone’s throw away from our schoolhouse, past the playground, and across a dirt road. He was a nice man, and all the children in the community loved him.  As I walked across the road, clinging tightly to the quarter in my hand, I felt so proud that Miss Cornett trusted me with this important task.  I walked into the store, with its wooden floors, and old time country atmosphere.  “What can I do for you?” asked Norman with a smile.  “Miss Cornett wanted me to buy a coke for Brenda.  She has a headache.”  He took my quarter, and walked over to the old red chest type coke machine. He retrieved the little bottle, and opened it with the built-in opener on the front of the machine. “Thank you,” I said politely, and started walking back toward the school building.

About halfway back, the thought struck me, that if I told Miss Cornett that I had a headache, she would buy a coke for me, too!  I walked into the classroom, and handed the small coke to Miss Cornett, and returned to my seat.  I waited about two minutes, and then slowly walked toward Miss Cornett’s desk. I mustered up the most pitiful looking face I could manage. “Miss Cornett...” I whined, “I’ve got a headache...” She looked at me with a thoughtful expression. “Now, Mary,” She said, “Do you REALLY have a headache?”  I didn’t answer out loud.  I just nodded my head.  She reached into her purse, and pulled out a quarter, and once again, pressed it into the palm of my hand.  “Mary,” she said, “I want you to walk over and buy your own self a coke, okay?”

I walked out the door, and grinned slightly, as I skipped off toward Norman’s Store. I couldn’t wait to taste that ice cold Coca-Cola! “Well, are you back?” He asked, as I came through the old screen door, and it banged behind me.  “We need another Coke,” I said.  Norman repeated the procedure of reaching in, pulling out a Coca Cola, and popping off the lid with the opener.  He handed it to me, as the lid made a clinking sound when it fell down into the machine. “Thank you!” I said, and banged the screen door behind me as I left the store.  I stopped just outside, and took a big sip.  For some reason, it didn’t taste quite as good as I had thought it would.  I took another sip. It tasted even worse.  With each step, and with each sip, my conscience seared my soul.  I knew that I had done something wrong.  By the time I walked back into the classroom, tears were streaming down my cheeks.  Miss Cornett came over and put her arms around me. “What’s the matter, Mary?” She asked.  “Oh, Miss Cornett... I didn’t really have a headache. I lied to you, so you would buy me a Coke. I don’t want it, now. I’m so sorry!”  I was sobbing by this time. Miss Cornett just hugged me tighter, then she looked at me and said, “I think you’ve learned a valuable lesson today, haven’t you?”

I’m also reminded of another lesson. Sin can seem enticing. We may anticipate the taste of sin, but if we are in harmony with God, if we are walking in the Light, (praying, reading our Bible, staying in fellowship with God’s people), and we listen to that still, small voice, which is our Holy Spirit, we will know right from wrong, and sinful things will taste bitter to us.

Let us all be encouraged by a verse found in 1 John:

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins, and purify us from all unrighteousness ” 
1 John 1:9

HAVE A GREAT DAY!