Creativity was the name of the game on weekends around my house. Since I lived in a town that rolled up the sidewalks at 5 p.m. on Friday afternoon, my mind had to get busy to avoid a two-day barrage of boredom.
My uncle was a trucker, known for enjoying a King Edward cigar now and then. He told us many tall tales about those long hauls across the countryside that made work seem more like an adventure.
On some weekends, when I tired of trying to shoot sparrows off of the power line that ran near my front yard, I would hop on the front porch swing and dream big. I decided that I could turn the swing into a big rig by tucking myself under the armrest that was nearest the wall of the house.
That way, I could kick the wall so that my swing took on a pendulum-like motion while I provided all of the engine noises to make my imaginary trip a success. However, it occurred to me that something was missing, which is when I remembered my uncle's cigar.
I must admit that I stole a few of the real cigars from time to time, hustling behind the chicken houses at his farm in order to give those stogies a whirl. Actually, the cigars took me for a whirl, usually making me quite dizzy.
Nonetheless, to properly imitate my uncle, the cigar was a must. To improvise for these occasions, I kept a supply of the brown paper towels from my school. No one seemed to mind that my pockets were often full of them as the last bell rang on Friday afternoon.
All that was needed now was to wet the towels and roll them up tightly and a makeshift cigar was rolling between my lips. If I ran out of towels, I resorted to pretzel rods. These worked out pretty well because I could eat my "cigar" once my imaginary trip was over.
My ability to improvise came in handy when I encountered dorm life at college. The nearest kitchen was three floors below my room, so we often cooked from a portable electric stove top, which worked great until it was time to wash dishes. Generally, we would load the dishes into a clothes hamper and take them to the bathroom at the end of the hall and sort of wash them.
It really didn't matter how clean we got them since my roommate would dry them with a used bath towel. After taking notice of this arrangement, I took to eating out more often. I can still hear my roommate's defense of this improvisation: " The towel is clean because I was clean when I dried off!" But, I could hear the towel singing "Oh! The places we will go" every time I even looked at a dish, so I lost my appetite for the remainder of our term together.
Not to be outdone by my roomie's creativity, I began looking for a way to shave from my room, because we slept as long as we could every morning. Time was valuable, so imagine my delight when I realized that I could fill my coffee pot with water and plug it in when I woke up.
My percolator got water very hot, so a cup full of that steamy water was perfect for a quick shave. With every innovation comes a challenge. I had to empty the pot afterwards, and I had no sink. So, I remedied the problem by hurling the water over the ledge of my balcony. This worked well until one chilly morning when I didn't bother to look over the balcony before releasing the pot full of hot water, which is when I got into some hot water of my own.
Some hapless young freshman got a refreshing hot shower that morning. I would have offered him my roommate's favorite bath towel to dry off, but he was too busy cussing at me faster than an auctioneer at a livestock sale. His lengthy burst of expletives gave me time to dart back into my room, turn the lights off and tuck my head under a pillow to muffle my inevitable laughter.
Improvisation is great in childhood and college life, but spiritual life should only be entrusted to the truth of scripture. Many folks prefer to tickle their ears with whatever truth seems most convenient to them. My college was big on this type of truth.
Jesus warned against following such thinking, likening it to traveling a broad road that leads to destruction. He insists that the true road is narrow, even difficult at times, but it leads to eternal life with Him.
For me, it's the "with Him" part that is best. Heaven would be dull without Him. I'm afraid many consider eternity more of a location than a destiny, rich with inheritance and communion. It isn't a set of beliefs that saves us. It's all about learning to cleave to Jesus, Who remains the way, the truth and the life. No improvisation is needed, just a clean spoonful of faith.