No Shortcut to Grace

No Shortcut to Grace

By Andy Oldham

There is nothing more beautiful than the first snow of winter. She displays falling light and heavy white flakes brining the smell of fresh clean air. The kids are excited to play and sled. If you are like me, I love to watch my granddaughter scream while trying to make snowballs from our large 1/8-inch snowdrift. Here in the South we are closed down for the winter if we get 1/4-inch.

In the backdrop of this beautiful mess, people love to take memorable photos and write stories of winter in their journals and blogs. Though I am from Louisiana, and now live in Mississippi, I’d like to share one of my favorite memories with you. As we say in the South, “Set your pretty little self down and take a listen.” Bless your heart!

 I have shared stories of my best friend, Mo Hodge, here in Christian Grandfather Magazine. In fact ,he has written a couple of His own stories, too.

A light snow had fallen and melted the night before my brother and I went hunting with my best friend, and my little brother, Dick, around Salamonie Reservoir, IN. We took Mo’s new, but used, 4-wheel drive Chevy Blazer with gigantic mud tires knowing that we could go anywhere we wanted. Driving down a gravel road we noticed a peaceful grouping of deep woods across an open field. Mo decided there was a short cut across a pasture and took off. No sooner had we started when our nostrils filled with that favorite country aroma that make so many ask, “What is that smell?” Whoever farmed this land had just finished spreading the field with fertilizer. Now, not that kind you buy in the store, mind you, rather that kind that comes out of the south end of a north bound cow. Some folks call it the Essence of Manure.

Mud was getting deeper, and the air a lot more smelly. Mo began to fight with the rear end of the vehicle. For some reason the Essence combined with the mud from the melted snow and rains was exceptionally slick. The steering wheel moved quickly from left to right and back as he fought to keep the Blazer straight. The fight was short-lived and we found ourselves stuck. Forthwith, we looked at each other in confounded trepidation—the four-wheel drive was not turned on. This will date you grandpas out there, but remember the time when turning on the four-wheel drive was accomplished from the outside by turning the hub on each wheel? While stopped we found the small amount of wind given by driving with the widows down had blocked most of the nosegay of bitter pungencies. Now stopped, the wind was throwing manure bricks. Because we were so dumb as to not lock the hubs we received the blessings of unsavory suffocation.

Climbing out of the Blazer we noticed an old beat up farm truck swerving up the hill toward us. The farmer was waving and shouting some unintelligible words, so we waved back. He stopped, pulled a rifle from the widow rack and cocked the chamber. He stomped in front of the pickup and said, “You’re trespassing on my land and I am gonna put a bullet right through your motor.” All three of us assured him that we thought we were on public land and apologized for our fortuitous presence.

He wouldn’t have it and continued to shout and blame when Mo interrupted, “Uh, sir, your truck—is rolling backwards down the hill. ”The farmer ran waving the gun shouting, “I’ll be right back!”

 “In my anguish I cried to the LORD, and He answered by setting me free.”(Psalm 118:5)

Full revelation of why the scriptures tell us to pray without ceasing helped us decide exactly what to do; we locked the hubs and took off! The farmer chased his truck screaming obscenities while our deliverance arrived simultaneously.

 “The Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials.” (2 Peter 2:9)

 I’m sure the saints above held their hands to their bellies and rolled in laughter as they watched three crazed idiots spin through Essence like the devil was on their tail. The scripture says to,

 “Do what is good and run from evil—that you may live!”(Amos 5:14a)

There are times when we see the peace and calm of someone else’s walk with God. We desire that same walk. The allure of the short cut across the pasture of life is so tempting, but given individual gifts our path to peace may be different. Take only the path directed by the Holy Spirit and get out of your own way. If things begin to smell a little, and the Essence begins to suffocate, hit your knees in prayer. We cannot take short cuts with God for it is only through His Son that grace arrives. Our walk is progressive—we grow as we walk with Him. He will guide you in the path you should take. (Proverbs 3:6)

Andy Oldham is the founder and co-creator of Christian Grandfather Magazine. He received his B.A. in religious studies and education from Anderson University. He has served as pastor to senior adults, and fills pulpits when needed. Andy taught memoir classes at the local library and after writing his personal memoirs wrote Everlasting Cronies, a story of growing up in rural Louisiana. His inspirational column in the Northside Sun Newspaper was well received by his community. A poem, Winters Grace has been honored by the Mississippi Poetry Society. He and his wife, Barbara, have six grandchildren and enjoy retirement in Mississippi.

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Photo by Filip Bunkens on Unsplash