States of Matter and More Car Time

Recently, a friend blogged on the fluid nature of life.  Synchronously, I wrote a little poem on this "states of matter" topic: 
"There is a way that seemeth right to a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death..." Proverbs 16:25
The way of death is like a man who conquers a mountain of ice.
But what is the ice?
A faulty solid.
Utterly dependent on the climate of the day.
He plants his flag, but soon
A warm wind blows, and ice become water
And water, steam.
Tthe wind whisks it away
While he and his flag
Are left standing there
silly...

This blog is taking me to a high-view realization: humans are time snobs. 
It presents in many ways:

• In religion, for instance, with Arianism's position on the Trinity.  It was established and renounced in the 300's; but now, identical non-Trinitarian beliefs are promoted as new and secret truths, deluding many who have an affinity for perceived novelty.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arianism
• In politics, with US political party flopping, over things like states' rights over the course of generations.  Back when there were Whigs around, Republicans and Democrats were philosophically very different from who they are now--yet modern thinking "presumes" a consistency that simply isn't real.  Little do we realize things like "yesteryear's republican IS today's democrat."  We think that because labels look solid in our own lifetime, they have always been this particular solid.  Not so. 
• In culture, we ridicule the styles of art and fashion embraced by the generation just prior to ours even as we scavenge the "vintage treasures" of the generation prior to theirs, the one whose style they ridiculed...round and round.

If there's one thing I hope I gain from this backward glance, it is a more linear humility.
Now on to today's roadside analogy:

September 19
Servanthood and the Rental Car

The apostles said to the Lord, “Show us how to increase our faith.”

The Lord answered, “If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘May you be uprooted and thrown into the sea,’ and it would obey you!
“When a servant comes in from plowing or taking care of sheep, does his master say, ‘Come in and eat with me’?  No, he says, ‘Prepare my meal, put on your apron, and serve me while I eat. Then you can eat later.’ And does the master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do? Of course not. In the same way, when you obey me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.’” Luke 17:5-10
Even after an amazing display of faith, servanthood should retain its humility.  Servanthood is a lot like being a rental car--even a high-end rental car. 

• Being a rental car means you serve, but mostly you aren't "owned" by the one you serve.  You're "owned" by God, which makes serving the renter take on a different sort of significance.  Your motives for pleasing the renter are always overshadowed by how your reliability reflects on the rental agency, which would be God.
• You might suffer abuse that a renter wouldn't inflict on a car he owned personally.  But, you also have the assurance that when you are "returned" (as you better well be!) you will be carefully inspected for damage and repaired, or at least given routine maintenance and clean-up work before being sent out again.  Sometimes, I forget to allow for that statio time, and then I blame God when my next assignment really throws me out of alignment.
• Rental cars are meek.  They have no stake in where they're going after they've been rented. They go where the renter wants to be taken, accepting that if this weren't an allowable trip, the owner wouldn't have agreed to the contract.  As long as I have put it in the owner's hands to rent me--the car--out, I must go willingly wherever I'm sent. Acting on this isn't a frustration; it is a peace. This is how "...the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace." Psalm 37:11

I will try to be a better rental car in the days to come.
Two areas still give me the most trouble:  allowing that statio time when God whispers I'm between assignments and accepting trips to places I don't want to visit.  Also, maybe accepting driving practices that aren't good for me, and believing the "agency" is really keeping my best interests in mind, especially in this era when loving the profit exceeds loving the car. 
That's where the analogy has to end. 
God is definitely a collector who loves every model in his fleet!