Be Warned

Today you’re going to find out just how stupid I really am. Actually, looking at the Bible verse at the end of this post, I think I would be called “simple”. That sounds better than stupid, anyway. Do you recall last Friday when I got clunked on the head with a wooden toy? That has healed up nicely, thank you. Well, today I heard little footsteps behind me getting up steam and coming fast. But did I turn around and look? No. Did I do anything? No! You’d think I’d be warned. Sure enough, a three year old came running and head banged me in the lower spine. It didn’t hurt too badly at first, but as the day went on, it got worse. So now I can stand and walk, but it’s painful to sit. Which is why I’m writing this in a kind of sideways slumped over position. Children under five ought to come with warnings on them. But, being a parent, I should know that anyway. A lot of things in nature have warning colors on them to say beware. My pictures above show some. Poison ivy has no warnings on it. It blends in. It just looks bland, so you have to remember “Leaves of three, let them be.” I think we need rhymes like this for every dangerous thing that doesn’t have warning colors on it. Having the job of making up the rhymes would be fun and I would be the first to apply. The possibilities are endless. “A child waving a wrench, jump up on a bench.” In the Bible, people were warned in all sorts of different ways. But I haven’t found any rhymes. They blew trumpets and had dreams. They heard voices and had visions. Warnings like this, I would surely pay attention to. The warnings of today are not near exciting as in bible times. I think this verse in Proverbs is what I need to memorize. “A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge. But the simple keep going and suffer for it.”