Tag Archives: legalism

Kissing in the Dark…

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Lord Halifax, a former foreign secretary of Great Britain, once shared a railway compartment with two prim-looking spinsters. A few moments before reaching his destination the train passed through a tunnel. In the utter darkness Halifax kissed the back of his hand noisily several times.

When the train drew into the station, he rose, lifted his hat, and in a gentlemanly way said: “May I thank whichever one of you two ladies I am indebted to for the charming incident in the tunnel.”

He then beat a hasty retreat, leaving the two ladies glaring at each other. Bits & Pieces, May 27, 1993, p. 22

The Letter of the Law…

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Reuters reports that an Israeli girl has been married and divorced — all at the young age of 14.

It began as a joke at school, where a 17-year-old declared the girl his wife by reciting a Jewish ritual vow before witnesses.  In response, she received his ring.

The Rabbinical Courts of Israel indicated that this was the consummation of marriage for the two of them and that they were man and wife.

Later, the couple was granted a rabbinical divorce.

That is following “the letter of the law.”

Am I wrapped too tight?

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I don’t know Jeff Dyer, but I’ve appreciated his sense of humor. Jeff had a web site called www.InHis.com. It was a place where you could find clean jokes and stories. Many times, I’ve taken out my handheld PC and received a smile from what he had there.

But several years ago, the jokes disappeared. Jeff had stopped publishing jokes at inhis.com. Why? He listed three reasons, paraphrased here:

  1. Lack of time to keep up with technology.
  2. Lack of joy in keeping it current.
  3. Unwillingness to continue to subject himself to the judgments of modern-day Pharisees.

Let me read you his exact words in number three:

I am tired of trying to explain myself to the self-appointed, self-righteous guardians of ethics and morality. I have been accused of everything from intentional plagiarism, copyright infringement to un-Christ like attitudes and behavior. I just do not want to fight those battles anymore.

He had printed this third reason in bold.

I am guessing it was not just the straw the broke the camel’s back, but the primary reason he stopped.

Do you know what Jeff’s real problem was? Some of the people who read his site were wrapped a little too tightly. If you have people like that in your life, perhaps this sermon will be of some value.

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