Honest Additions

Waiting in the Denver airport terminal this past week for my connecting flight, I heard a familiar announcement with a new ending. The airline employee, with routine discipline, announced, “Ladies and Gentlemen, we are ready to begin boarding our flight to Rapid City. Please have your boarding passes out and ready for the gate attendant.” Then with obvious negative experiences in her past, she added, “We are not taking a DNA test this morning, so please do not put your boarding pass in your mouth or under your arm.” Now, with everyone’s full attention, she added one final comment, “Besides, that’s really gross!” Her professional training gave way to honest additions. Perhaps this was similar to what Paul was feeling when he wrote of his crowd that they were, “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim. 3:7). This Monday Morning Memo is far too short for me to tell you how many times I’ve made a routine, traditional statement, and been tempted to add an honest addition. Well, maybe I’ll share just one. I’ll put my honest additions in parenthesis (where they belong). “It is time in our service for the offering (would someone clue the ushers they’re already supposed to be down front), and I know you’ll give generously as unto the Lord (besides part of this pays my salary so don’t hold back!).” Feel free to click on “Post a comment to this memo” and share your own honest additions. Maybe we ought to go ahead with the boldness of the gate attendant and share the “truth” of our honest additions (and then again maybe not).