Writing on Walls

My wife set me up with a FACEBOOK account…apparently so I might have friends. She explained that I could write whatever I wanted on my wall or someone else’s wall. I don’t think she understood that I have an aversion to writing on walls…it probably stemmed from an early childhood experience. As I recall...I was in my sixth year of life, it was just prior to my first grade episode; a whole other story (see story titled “First Grade”). For some unknown reason I decided to scribe a line around the entire outside circumference of our house’s white slate walls with a red crayon. Our house was one in a row of many identical houses that made up the oil field camp. I really think the red line gave our abode a certain notoriety that set it off from all the rest. It looked kinda like a high water mark…ironically in the middle of West Texas. Needless to say…this unleashed a tsunami of wrath and rage from my father. The fury of which was so powerful that I can recall the exact consequences of my actions some seventy years later.

So please forgive me if I don’t seem too enthusiastic about embracing the idea of writing on your wall, for it seems almost like vandalism.

Besides I liked the ole family chain letter with pictures you could hold and touch, with notes and letters written on real paper with real pen and ink. Maybe it was not sent at the speed of light but it was an event. Maybe I am just too old and too tired to keep pace with all this new electronic technology. Oops! gotta go! My computer is telling me “I’ve got mail”.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for a wife who’s always looking after me, for a father who kept me in line and most of all for your example to follow. Amen