Early Christmas day, I believe 1972, we hurried to unwrap our gifts. It was the year I vividly remember my brother and I receiving something both unique and uncommon. I do not know if we asked for them or if our mother and father found the dog-eared page of the JC Penney catalog we previously looked. To our astonishment it was two authentic ventriloquist (not dummies) dolls, my brothers was Charlie McCarthy and mine was Danny O’Dea (look them up). They came with a record, and the first phrase we had to learn, being careful to avoid moving our lips was "the boy bought the basketball". We practiced diligently for a period of time, however I do not know what became of them (I have to ask my mom), as my hope of being a famed ventriloquist artist, growing up watching the likes of “Howdie-Doodie”, “Mr. Rogers”, “Lamb-chops”, and of course “Captain Kangaroo”, faded as rapidly as it began.
In life, as well, we must be mindful of who speaks on our behalf, and whom we delegate to represent us. In the body of Christ there are many variables, as well as those that claim to speak as the oracles of God, but lack any credible standing. Scripture tells us,
Be ye therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves
(Matthew 10:16, KJV)
We are living in the age and which the world appears turned upside down, what was once right is now wrong, and the wrong is now universally accepted as right. What we considered inappropriate behavior is commonplace as we and our children are bombarded with messages and enduring images of what the world, absent of God, has deemed now acceptable practice. Our interaction, relationship, communion, and fellowship with God and one another are deeply impacted.
