A Burning Question for 2008

CBN.com - Sitting in my daily producer's meeting at CBN.com recently, my mind was wandering a bit thinking about the wonderful Christmas holiday just hours away. I was not having visions of sugarplums dancing in my head mind you, but was just reflecting upon all of the goodness that God had bestowed on my family and friends in 2007.

Suddenly, I was brought back to reality by the beckoning voice of my producers. They wanted to know what the topic of my column would be for Monday morning (today). Without missing a beat, I blurted "Ten Burning Questions That Need Answers in 2008".

Where did that come from? I had planned to write an article about NFL play-off scenarios and here I was spouting I would become the CBN.com answer man. As you all know, that responsibility belongs to our founder, Pat Robertson.

"Interesting," one producer replied, before I had a chance to regale my audience with how I planned to approach such a theme. "I look forward to reading it."

We quickly moved on to other matters within the context of the meeting.

No problem, I thought. I will just wait until the end of the meeting and tell them that I had changed my mind and would actually be writing about the NFL. But the more I sat there, the more I thought that it wasn't such a bad idea after all. Why not? Many other web sites were planning to publish "The Year Ahead" articles so why couldn't I?

As the meeting progressed further I soon found myself in one of those "If You Can Dream It, You Can Be It" moments where I actually started to justify my expertise, believing that perhaps I could tackle these burning questions that needed answers. However, there was only one problem. I didn't know what the questions were.

The meeting concluded, and I later found myself sitting in my office staring at an old, wooden lobster adorning a sign my wife had found for me at an antique shop. The sign read, "Lobsters available by the pound, fresh or boiled!"

That's the first question I muttered as I scribbled my musings down on a piece of paper. "Can you fry or bake a lobster?" We always hear about lobsters being boiled but you never hear about them being prepared any other way. Excellent, I thought, just nine more to go.

Twenty minutes later, I found myself still staring at the lobster sign, pondering potential questions. None came. I finally decided that this story should not be about burning questions that I want answers for in 2008, but should be more reflective of my viewing audience. But how can I do that? It is the Thursday before New Years day, I don't have enough time to solicit my readers, and the article must be ready by Monday morning.

At that very moment, one of my colleagues poked her head into my office to ask me a question. Before she could utter a sound, I asked, "What is one burning question that you would like to have answered in 2008?"

Her reply was simple yet filled with mirth.

"Why is fire hot?" she chuckled. "Get it? Burning question, why is fire hot?"

And so began my quest of asking my co-workers, these wise and savvy Christian media professionals, what their most burning question was for 2008. Here are some of their suggestions:

Why is water wet?

Why is the sky blue and the grass green rather than vice versa?

What is the difference between salsa and picante sauce?

Why are field hockey sticks made for only right handed people?

Why do portable DVD player batteries last less than two hours when most movies are longer than that?

Who invented the ballpoint pen?

Expecting questions that were much deeper, philosophically and spiritually, I had been presented a list that would be better suited for Bill Nye the Science Guy or that Ask Jeeves web site. For the record, I think they were joking.

Still pondering these pithy queries as I drove home after work, I suddenly remembered that I needed to exchange a Christmas gift at a prominent electronics store with a big yellow sign that looks like a price tag.

Upon entering this haven for electronic gadget junkies, it dawned on me that I only had nine burning questions that needed answers for 2008. I was still one short. But it had to wait.

I soon found myself standing in a line facing a behemoth floor to ceiling sign that outlined the store's return/exchange policies. Scanning the 338 basic guidelines for executing returns (okay there weren't 338, it just seemed like it), my eyes zeroed in on the policy that affected me. It read:

"No Returns/Exchanges on opened: Computer Software, DVD or VHS Videos, Video Games, or Music."

I was holding a memory card for a video gaming system that had been opened. Suddenly, without even realizing it, I began forming my case for the store clerk. I was determined to not get "stuck" with this expensive little item that was the wrong model. I was preparing myself to be cold, argumentative, and stealth-like in a quest to get the correct item into my hands at no additional cost. There was absolutely no way I would allow this college-aged clerk to get the best of me.

I would argue that this device was not a video game nor was it computer software. Computer software is used to export information not to store it. If the clerk tried to declare that it indeed was computer software I would ask to see documentation proving that it was. If that failed, I would ask to speak to the manager. If that didn't work, I would dial up the district supervisor. There was no way conceivable I would be denied. I was prepared for the fight.

It was finally my turn to do battle. I was ready to outwit, outlast, and outplay.

"May I help you sir?" questioned the young clerk.

"Uh, I need to exchange this memory card. It has been opened (opened, that should really trigger the argument, I thought)."

"No, problem," she replied. "I will just put the money back on your debit card and you can go find the one you need. Just show the credit slip I am about to give you."

"Huh?" I softly whispered in response. "Maybe you didn't hear me. It has been opened."

"That isn't a problem," she said. "Here is your card and your credit slip. Have a happy New Year, Mr. Carpenter."

I was dumbfounded, bewildered, shocked. She didn't challenge me. Then it hit me like one of those 52-inch HDTV televisions in aisle 17. My tenth and only burning question that needed an answer for 2008 is "why do I always prepare for the fight?"

I am a Christian. I love God and Jesus Christ. I try to live my my life based on principles that are set forth in the Bible. Yet here I was preparing to be nasty, argumentative, snarly, and every other adjective in between, to this innocent young woman who was just trying to do her job. This behavior is far from being Christ-like.

As I was conveying this story to my wife over dinner later that night, she reminded me that I also do this with telemarketers. She explained that whether I realized it or not I am always strategizing ways to get the best of these salespeople on the other side of the telephone. I am constantly preparing for the fight.

What does the Bible have to say about this?

In

Love's happiness and warm togetherness, which we all long for, often fades within the harsh realities of daily living. In our constant quest to fit in with the world, we often replace the beautiful bounty of Christian living with the unpleasant moments and situations that manifest themselves all around us.

My desire for 2008 and beyond is that we as Christians will choose to love God and our neighbors because of His perfect example in loving us even though we fail Him on a daily basis. We should strive in every moment of every day to please Him in all that we do. To do this, is to truly love Him. True love is possible only because it is "God in us" who loves.*

It is amazing how God works in our lives and shows us the way through even the simplest of means. What began in the morning as a hasty, ill conceived, notion for a story, ended in the evening with an invaluable God-breathed lesson that should become a "burning desire" for all of us in 2008.

Tell me what you think

* Material from The Transformer, study Bible used in this article.