Ironing

My mother taught me how to iron. Lesson one: make sure you grab the right end. I had the burned hands to prove the validity of lesson one. Lesson two: don't leave until you've unplugged the iron. I had the shirt with the iron shaped burn mark to prove the validity of lesson number two.

Somewhere between these two lessons, my clothes were supposed to get iron. When I got to college, that all fell by the wayside. I learned if you packed enough clothes into your dorm closet, they basically iron themselves.

Interestingly enough, one of the hymns of faith was written while ironing. "In Times Like These" was written by Ruth Caye Jones during the depths of World War II. One day, while ironing, the words came to her. She jotted them down and put them in her apron pocket. Over the next several years, this hymn became widely used, especially at Billy Graham crusades.

It's not difficult to see why this hymn became so popular. In the midst of the darkness of a world war, the words of the hymn gave great comfort:

In times like these, we need a Savior

In times like these, we need an anchor

Be very sure; Be very sure

Your anchor holds, and grips the Solid Rock!

We live in an evil, tragic world. If ever there was a time to proclaim the message of Jesus, it is now. If ever there was a time to proclaim the hope we have in Christ, this is it. Our world needs the Solid Rock.