C A R L B. G A R N E R

'WANTA BORROW A JACK?'

I'm going to tell you an old story. It is a bit long, but maybe you will get the point intended by that author. One day I went to a lawyer for advice. "I'm in real trouble," I said. "My neighbor is going on vacation for a month and instead of boarding their two dogs, they are going to lock them up and a woman is going to come and feed them – if she does not forget – and meanwhile they'll be lonely and bark all day and night, and I won't be able to sleep and either have to call the SPCA to haul them away or I'll go crazy and shoot them, and then my neighbors will come and shoot me and...." The lawyer patted back a yawn, and told this story.

"A fellow was speeding down a country road one night when he had a blowout. The spare tire was all right, but he found that someone had taken his jack and not returned it. Looking around he saw the lights of a farmhouse, and said, "I'll just go see if I can borrow a jack from him." As he walked toward the house, he tried to rehearse his request for the jack. "I'll just knock on the door, ask for the jack, and he will say, 'Why sure, neighbor, just make sure you bring it back.'" The closer to the house he came, the more nervous he was about the response he might receive. He thought to himself, "Now, he'¹s gone to bed and will be annoyed because I wakened him – so he'll probably want some money for the jack – and I'll say, "OK, but that's not very neighborly of you, but I'll give you an quarter." He thought to himself, "He will probably say, 'You think you can get me up in the middle of the night, and then offer me a quarter? I'll get a dollar or you can go somewhere else for your jack!"

By now, the fellow had worked himself into a pretty good lather. When he turned into the man's gate, he muttered, "A dollar! All right, I'll give you a dollar. But not a red cent more! A poor guy has an accident and all he needs is a jack. You probably won't let me have one no matter what I pay. That's the kind of guy you are." When he got to the door, he knocked loudly, angrily. When the farmer stuck his head out the window he hollered, "Who's there? What do you want?" The fellow stopped pounding on the door and yelled up, "You know what you can do with your old jack. Just keep it! See if I care!"

By the time I stopped laughing, I asked, "Is that what I've been doing? I guess I have just been borrowing trouble." On the way home, I realized that I had forgotten to call my wife and tell her I might be late. Crawling along in a string of heavy traffic, I thought to myself, "I¹ll tell her I was caught in the weekend traffic, and she'll say, 'Why didn't you phone me before you left for home?" Then I'll say, "What difference does it make? I'm here, aren't I?" Then she will say, "Yes, and I've been here all day slaving, waiting to hear from you." Then I'll say, "Do you think I have nothing else to do than call you up every hour and make like a lovebird?" And she'll say, "You mean like a wolf, but you wouldn't be calling me!" By this time I was pretty steamed up, and as I jumped out and slammed the car door, my wife flung open the window upstairs. "All right!" I shouted up to her, "³Say it." "³I will," she said softly, "Wanta borrow a jack?"

Whether you think that is a funny story may depend upon your sense of humor, but many a person goes through life with a constant chip on their shoulder. Sometimes it is seen by way of their constant suspicion of everyone. If some nice person asks them out to dinner, they think there is some ulterior motive behind the invitation. Others are never willing to give the other person the benefit of the doubt. The other guy will always be under a microscope, and if he is seen within a mile of some questionable place, our friend will take it for granted that they were there for all the wrong reasons. Such a person is often so aware of their own weaknesses they cannot imagine someone else having pure motives and righteous thoughts.

In the Sermon on The Mount, Jesus said, "Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof," Matthew 6:34. Among other things learned, there is this clear warning about the practice of "Borrowing Trouble." The man in our story was already suffering because of troubles that he might have when his neighbors left.

We often find that we face tragedy and calamity every day of our own making. There is no way to avoid the natural concerns about our children, our country, the future of the church, etc., but most of it could be avoided completely if we would just learn to live one day at a time.

Some suggestions for keeping our composure in this stressful world:

1. Be willing to forgive others when they have behaved badly. Be a help and not a hindrance.
2. Expect your neighbor to be kind, helpful and considerate. You will likely be pleasantly surprised to find that he truly is a good neighbor.
3. When someone else faces trouble, try to anticipate their needs, making it unnecessary for them to ask for your help.
4. When you see someone else getting more and more angry, make sure you keep your cool. At least don't make things any worse.
5. Practice the common courtesies of kindness, generosity, forbearance, gentleness and forgiveness.
6. Place a positive interpretation on the deeds of others until you know for sure that such is not justified. Next time you drive your car, be sure you have your jack with you. It will save you lots of problems.