Double the Joy
[Larceny may be involved.]
You can listen to this post here or here.
By now you’ve heard the reports.
At about 9:00 AM CT on the 18th of November, a Böcker ladder truck pulled up to the facility of North Hills Church in Meridianville, Alabama. In the space of four minutes, a well rehearsed team of criminals scaled the ladder, gained entrance to a locked office, exited down a freight elevator, and disappeared on a couple of scooters. Apparently the only item taken was the priceless Substack title “Double the Joy” under which the church’s pastor, Adam Tisdale, has published his reflections on life.
Through means we are not at liberty to disclose, this valuable title has come into our possession here at Greatheart’s Table. The significance of the title, as I understand it, lies in the sense that when one person shares his joy with another, that joy is doubled, which seems an appropriate theme for a week in which thanksgiving is on the menu in the US. Therefore, this being in our possession, we will use it.
My wife and I regularly run1 around a lake in a park near our house. As such I’ve become friendly with many of the residents of that lake, and it is my joy to introduce them to you here by name.
The first I came to know was a wood stork named Storkey. His first name, Dave, reminded me of my dear friend Dave Sturkey, whose support in difficult times kept me from quitting ministry. Storkey, like his namesake, and like us all eventually, was just passing through.
After Dave, I began to discover that other lake residents had names.
Burl Ibis, for example, is a white ibis. Burl is white with a long, orange nose. Like a snowman. Or most snowmen. The talking one in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer had clearly had cosmetic surgery.
The great egret, Shoeless Greg Josephson, is distinguished by his Black Sox. His feet are always in the water, but my money is on his being shoeless, like his father Joe.
Pedro and Jesús are two of the lake’s common gallinules, sometimes seen hanging out with a third, Juan. All are fishermen of one sort or another. When disturbed, their legs beat as furiously as their wings before becoming airborne. One can imagine that they are walking on that water. Perhaps they are.
Stu is our little blue heron. We might pity Stuart for being Little, but he’s unique in many ways, not the least of which is that when young he is not blue, but E.xtra B.right White. He no doubt claims that despite his size, he is as worthy as his larger, and more well known, cousin.
That cousin you see is the great blue heron. Larger and better known than Stu, her name is Karin. Of course it is, as fans of the band Over the Rhine will readily agree.
Always hanging out, but sometimes at a distance, are John and Holly McCrane, the sandhill cranes. These birds mate for life, and are most commonly seen in pairs. Though they are protected and have been listed as an endangered species for years, there are a lot of them around. They apparently Die Hard.
The alligator, Vader, illusive and often unseen, is nevertheless a powerful Force in the lake ecosystem. And though I’ve not tested this, I’m certain that if one got too close, Vader would happily remove your arm from your body, as reportedly he did to his son.
Often confused for Vader is Kirk, the captain’s log. Gnarled and weather-worn, it’s not hard to imagine that Kirk has seen strange worlds and gone where no man has gone before. But unlike Vader, he is harmless.
A noisy lake resident, Natty Bumppo, is, by contrast, hard to miss. He shrieks when he flies, avoiding human company. And though the books say he is a killdeer, it’s hard for me to imagine him having earned that name by any real deer slaying.
Snap, Grackle, and Pop complete our company. Snap is a turtle who rarely makes an appearance. Grackle is, well, a grackle - a boat tailed grackle, to be precise - a noisy cracker he is. And Pop is an anhinga, a weird bird that disappears underwater for long stretches of time only to pop up in unexpected places.
It would be wonderful if you could visit the lake with me, to meet my friends Kirk and Karin, Greg and Stu, and the others. And maybe Dave when he visits.
Naming the animals is odd, I admit, and my names are even odder. But this is a joyful oddity that may simply reflect our in-the-image-of-God humanity. As remarkable as it is, when God created all things, he invited Adam into that creative process. He assigned him the task, the opportunity, of naming the animals. Perhaps that is what human creativity is: an Adam-like noticing and naming what is around us.
This much I know: my adventure in naming has made me smile. If it encourages you to smile, then my joy is doubled. Perhaps it has made God smile.
And that is a good thing to give thanks for.
Meanwhile, negotiations for the return of the title to its proper owner are ongoing and should be completed soon.
She claims that she does not run, but walks. I correct her to say she is running, but at a slower pace. The debate is ongoing.
Okay, this was great…certainly made me laugh.
Well played, sir!
I hope to have a bit of a Joy Retrospective out soon 😜
OMG. I don’t think I could have survived another minute without having read this. It made me more than smile. There was a chuckle. Some eye rolling. And a head shaking. Task accomplished, Randy.