BY WALT ALBRITTON
OPINION —
The above title in correct English would be: What are you doing? Around the house, some of us take shortcuts with our words. I can remember my wife asking me many times, “Whatcha doing?”
I got in the habit of replying with a cute answer like “Solving the problems of the universe; whatcha doing?” We would smile, then make a plan for doing something together.
Remembering that question got me thinking about what people are doing all over the world today. Read a newspaper, check out Facebook or watch television and you learn what people “in the news” are doing.
Some people in Virginia are trying to decide what to do with the remains of the statue of Robert E. Lee they just melted down. Many families in Maine are arranging funerals for the 18 innocent people murdered by a madman last week. A man named Mike Johnson is trying to restore the dignity of the House of Representatives in Washington, DC. In the Middle East, thousands of people are engaged in a war that will likely kill thousands of innocent men, women and children. Hundreds have already been killed and more than a million are now refugees, wondering if they will ever have a home again.
On the local scene, some friends of mine are busy cooking meals they will serve to 250 people, the only meal most of them will eat today. A woman nearing the age of 100 is home, her aging fingers busy sewing together yet another Raggedy Ann doll that will soon be delivered to the Sunshine Center in Montgomery. A pastor’s wife is busy selecting material she will use in making another quilt she will share with someone. After church Sunday, I sat with a hundred others enjoying a splendid meal prepared and served joyfully by our friends in the “kitchen crew.”
As I walked into Dr. Spencer Coleman’s Medical Center early Monday morning, I saw an older woman, somebody’s grandmother, going about her work with a mop and bucket, diligently cleaning bathrooms. The kind gentleman who did my bloodwork and gave me a flu shot told me he gets up a 4 a.m. so he can perform his important duties as a medical technician. The woman who sold me my breakfast did so graciously, as though she enjoyed serving others.
Every day, across the world, people are making choices — some evil and some good. This journey called life moves swiftly and is soon over so our daily choices matter. In the Acts of the Apostles, 10th chapter, Peter explains who Jesus was to a centurion named Cornelius. Peter tells Cornelius about the crucifixion and the resurrection of Jesus, but he includes this simple description: “He went around doing good.” Is there a better example to follow? Few of us can do great things, but every one of us can find ways every day to go around doing good.
C.T. Studd’s inspiring poem stabs my heart awake with this sobering thought: “Only what’s done for Christ will last.” You may want to tuck away in your Bible these few lines from Studd’s long poem:
Two little lines I heard one day,
Traveling along life’s busy way;
Bringing conviction to my heart,
And from my mind would not depart;
Only one life, ‘twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
Only one life, yes only one,
Soon will its fleeting hours be done;
Then, in ‘that day’ my Lord to meet,
And stand before His judgment seat.
Only one life, ‘twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
If someone asks you today, “Whatcha doing?” you might want to reply, “Why, today I am going around doing good; whatcha doing?”
