The Sermon

I wasn't raised going to church but I married into a family that has a Christian tradition on both sides. I've gone to church more than a few times and at some points, quite regularly. There is one particular tale told in a sermon that I always remember and come back to:

An old man lived in a town where there was a major flood warning. As folks were preparing to leave town, they asked him if he wanted to come along. He said, "no thank you, I've been a faithful man to God and I have faith that he will take care of me."

As the flood waters rose to his porch, a man in a canoe paddled by and said, "hey, the flood waters are rising, why don't you get in my canoe and I'll paddle us to dry land."

The old man replied, "no thank you, I've been a faithful man to God and I have faith that he will take care of me."

As the flood waters rose to his second floor, a couple in a row boat paddle by and said, "hey, the flood waters are still rising, why don't you get in our boat and we'll row to dry land."

The old man replied, "no thank you, I've been a faithful man to God and I have faith that he will take care of me."

The flood waters rose to the roof and a helicopter circled above him, and the pilot shouted, "hey, the flood waters are still rising, grab the rope ladder and I can fly you to dry land."

The old man replied, "no thank you, I've been a faithful man to God and I have faith that he will take care of me."

Unfortunately the flood waters continued to rise and the old man perished.

As he reaches Heaven, he asks God, "I've been a faithful man to you all my life--how come you didn't take care of me?"

And God answered, "Who do you think sent the canoe, the rowboat, and the helicopter?"

The takeaways I got was that God helps you in various ways, and often not in a deus ex machina sort of way and that there are signs all around to guide and clue you in life but they're so easy to dismiss, even when they seem fairly obvious.

Obviously, I can't help but relate this to my previous 3 experiences--Zed being my canoe, En my rowboat, and Shue my helicopter.

I guess I can't ask for a bigger sign than that to get my eating/exercise in better balance.