???

The other day, as I drove back home again to Michigan, I observed three interesting and intriguing things:

1.       Driving east on 24 near Defiance, Ohio, I crossed railroad tracks with large white letters on the road just before the tracks.  The letters read “EXEMPT”.  And on the   pole, where the dinging red light was staring at me, was a sign that read “EXEMPT”.  What is “EXEMPT”?  Am I exempt from stopping for the train?  Is the train exempt from riding on those tracks?  Are those tracks exempt from trains?  Who or what is exempt, and why?

2.      As I pulled into a rest stop, a black Hummer limo caught my eye.  The driver, wearing a tux, was leaning against the vehicle having a cigarette. It was 2:14 pm on a Monday.  Curious, I kept waiting and waiting to see who would come out of the bathrooms and get into the limo.  After 20 minutes I gave up.  No one got into it, and the driver just kept smoking.  What kind of person would rent a limo and spend time  at a rest area on a Monday afternoon?

3.       I stopped to get my drink cup refilled with ice at a Speedway gas station somewhere in Ohio. I was told I had to buy something to drink to get the ice, so I filled up my cup with ice and tea.  When I went to pay, the cashier asked me if the tea was sweetened or unsweetened.  I asked her why she needed to know.  She said she had to know.  I told her it was unsweetened.  She rang it up and then said that, if it were sweetened, she’d have to charge me tax. I asked her if I put two packets of sugar in it from my purse would she have to tax me?  Or, if I put sugar substitute in it, would it still be non-taxable?  Whatever, she did not see any humor in my questions.

Questions. Questions.  Questions.   My mom told me there were no bad questions and that we learn through asking questions. I seem to ask a lot of questions and found it interesting that Jesus learned through asking questions.  Many of Christ’s conversations with people involved posing questions.  So, keep on asking questions and keep on enjoying life!

Luke 2: 45-47     “When they (Mary and Joseph) did not find him (Jesus), they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.47 Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers.”