The Wall

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“What a dear old wall that is that runs along by the river there! I never pass it without feeling better for the sight of it. Such a mellow, bright, sweet old wall; what a charming picture it would make, with the lichen creeping here, and the moss growing there, a shy young vine peeping over the top at this spot, to see what is going on upon the busy river, and the sober old ivy clustering a little farther down! There are fifty shades and tints and hues in every ten yards of that old wall. . . . It looks so peaceful and so quiet, and it is such a dear old place to ramble round in the early morning before many people are about.” Jerome K. Jerome, “Three Men In A Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)” Ch. 6 (1889)

The Path of Least Resistance and Greatest Persistence

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A common phenomenon in nature is “the path of least resistance.”

Electricity moving through a circuit will always travel where it is easiest to go.
Cars are developed aerodynamically so there will be a minimal wind resistance.
Water always travels under a bridge because it is far easier to go under the bridge than over it.

Frequently this is what people are like also.

It is easier to sit in front of the TV rather than to care for our neighbor’s needs.
It is easier to get angry at your mate and let that anger diminish over the course of time rather than sitting down and working the problem through.
Thumbing through a Reader’s Digest is much easier than a time of personal Bible study.

And so we find that we too, just like water under the bridge are prone to take the “path of least resistance.”

But there is one difference between ourselves and water. Water will never have to give an account of what it has done.

Ought not we examine ourselves and get on the “path of greatest persistance?’

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