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I am always brought to tears when I see talented people “strut their stuff.” It might be an Olympic athlete, it might be a concert pianist, it might be “the man on the flying trapeze.” When I see someone doing well what they have trained hours upon hours to do, it just humbles me. When I look at them I am seeing someone who is truly DOING THEIR BEST! I shed a tear or two watching The Harlem Globetrotters do their thing at The Arena a number of weeks ago. God did His Best when He sent His Son to earth. Jesus did His Best when He went to the Cross. The Holy Spirit did His Best when He baptized the believers on the day of Pentecost. Our BEST is what God expects - demands - requires! BEST is what Christianity is all about. His Best for our Worst. His Blood for our Sins. His Life for our Death. I remember singing an old hymn often when I was growing up entitled, “Our Best.” It’s not in the newer hymnals and I haven’t heard it for many years. I wonder why. Maybe it’s because the Church has slipped into mediocrity along with the rest of society. Shame on us! Jimmy Carter’s reflections on an interview he had with Admiral Hyman Rickover following his application for acceptance into the nuclear submarine program are recorded in Polmar & Allen’s book, Rickover: Controversy and Genius, and later in Gordon MacDonald’s book, Ordering Your Private World. Rickover was the head of the United States Nuclear Navy. He was a stern and demanding admiral. For many years he interviewed and approved every officer aboard a nuclear submarine. Carter tells how he was in a cold sweat and not feeling well about his interview until the admiral asked him about his years at Annapolis: “How did you stand in your class at the Naval Academy?" “Sir, I stood fifty-ninth in a class of 820!” Carter started to say, “Yes, sir,” but then remembered to whom he was speaking. He finally gulped and said, “No, sir, I didn’t always do my best.” Carter then said, “He looked at me for a long time, and then turned his chair around to end the interview. He asked one final question, which I have never been able to forget - or answer. He said, ‘Why not?’ I sat there for a while, shaken, and then slowly left the room.” God Bless YOU!
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