ASSUMPTIONS ARE DANGEROUS

ASSUMPTIONS ARE DANGEROUS

 Making assumptions can be rather risky business.  Even though that is definitely the case, would you kindly allow me a bit of humor to make my point?

 The photographer for a national magazine was assigned to get photos of a great forest fire.  Smoke at the scene hampered him and he asked his home office to hire a plane.  Arrangements were made and he was told to go at once to a nearby airport where the plane would be waiting.  When he arrived at the airport, a plane was warming up near the runway.  He jumped in with his equipment and yelled, “Let's go! Let's go!”  The pilot swung the plane into the wind and they were soon in the air.  “Fly over the north side of the fire,” yelled the photographer, “and make three or four low level passes.”  “Why?” asked the pilot.  “Because I’m going to take pictures!” cried the exasperated photographer. “I'm a photographer and photographers take pictures!”  After a pause the pilot said, “You mean you're not the instructor?”  No happy ending for this assumptive tale! 

 A violinist noticed that his playing had a profoundly hypnotic effect on his audiences.  They sat motionless, as though they were in a trance.  He found he had the same effect on his friends’ pets.  Dogs and cats would sit spellbound while he played.  Wondering if he could cast the same spell over wild beasts, he travelled to a jungle clearing in Africa, took out his violin and began to play.  A lion, a gorilla and an elephant charged into the clearing, stopped to listen, and sat mesmerized by the music.  Soon the clearing was filled with every kind of ferocious animal, each one listening ever so intently.  Suddenly another lion charged out of the jungle, pounced on the violinist, and killed him instantly.  The first lion, bewildered, asked, “Why did you do that?”  The second lion cupped his paw behind his ear. “What?”  Lesson learned, the hard way!

 Careful listening is not only an indispensable communication tool, it can be a matter of life or death.  So listen.  And in relationships of any kind, never ever assume that you automatically know where other people are coming from…unless and until you DO know exactly where they are coming from!

 Sisters and brothers, be continually blessed, and please (above all else) MAKE SURE YOU ARE READY TO MEET OUR SOON COMING KING. Maranatha!