potential

Dude, I Got A Dud

/ insightbyseymour / Leave a comment

crowdfundingA parody by Stephen Colbert reminded me of a project that projected great benefits to potential investors.  On a recent show, Colbert mocked the Vessyl smart cup. The designers of the cup claim that it can distinguish between a cappuccino or a black coffee with the added benefit of tracking your caloric intake and how much sugar and caffeine you are ingesting.

This full-of-potential-cup has hit the market half empty of promise:  It only tracks how much water you are drinking and sells for $99.

This hoopla and hype reminds me of a crowd funding project that cost me somewhere around a $100 to get 3 or 4 tracking devices.   It sounded like an inexpensive way to track an expensive or important item.  After syncing the device to a smartphone, you attach it to whatever you want to track and then monitor the location on the screen of your phone.

Since Hank, my dog, is a prized companion, I attached a chip to his collar and said, “Alright,” which Hank interprets as, and “I’m free to run.”   I watched the blip on my phone for about 10 seconds and then it disappeared.

After I whistled Hank in, I contacted the company.  I was informed that the device was for finding things like a lost set of car keys in your house, and could only track items within a short distance—10 to 15 feet not a block or two.

Projects like these offer the hope of riches, wealth, and an easier way of life, but they can be empty promises.  When I read the story about the Vessyl, it reminded me of the wise words of Solomon:

  • A greedy person is in a hurry to get rich, but he is ignorant of the loss that is about to overtake him. Proverbs 28:22
  • One man pretends to be rich but has nothing; another pretends to be poor but has great wealth. Proverbs 13:7

The safest investment you will ever make is not going to found on Wall Street or in in a crowd funding project, it will always be Jesus:

“I assure you,” Jesus said, “there is no one who has left house, brothers or sisters, mother or father, children, or fields because of Me and the gospel,  who will not receive 100 times more, now at this time—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions—and eternal life in the age to come.  But many who are first will be last, and the last first (Mark 10:29-31).”

Tree Rings

/ insightbyseymour / Leave a comment

A tree is such a common sight, that we rarely consider how uncommon it is.  In the spring when the saplings begin to appear, we may pause briefly to reflect on childhood adventures—tree houses, gunny sack swings, and puppy love initials deeply etched in the dark colored ridges of once skin smooth bark.

Trees are utilitarian—they serve and fulfill many of our needs.  Due to its thorny disposition, Osage Orange was idealized in the past century as fence material.  Oak has been the wood of choice to decorate the living quarters of many homes, and baseball enthusiasts are thrilled when they hear the exhilarating crack of an Ash-made bat launching a baseball into the depths of center field.

But, utilitarian is an insufficient adjective.  Unique is perhaps a more adequate description.  A tree, you see, never really dies.  Even though a tree may be harvested, milled, and kiln dried, it is reborn every time a craftsman touches it.

This remarkable aspect of the tree is often overlooked.  A good example of this is the community or school orchestra.  After hearing a stirring rendition of Bach or Beethoven, the concert attendee may comment on the beauty of the stringed section.  If, however, there were no trees, there would never have been a violin or a fiddle; and, what about the music that reverberates from these stringed instruments?  Do we hear the sound of the strings alone, or is it the life of the wood that lends its vitality to these artistic endeavors?

The life after death potential of a tree is almost unlimited.  The first  Psalm speaks about a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its  season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.  The roots of this tree run deep and the fruit it bears is seasonal and sweet.

Long after we die, and we are little more than a memory, the fruit of our influence will live on.  What will your influence be?  Will it be the sweet and melodious sound of a violin or will it be an unwanted round of chagrin?

I hope this thought keeps you thinking.