Once, Gramp told a story of her early days as a teacher. She was visiting the homes of some of her students, who lived “in the country.” Teachers, in those days, were more than just teachers; they were an integral part of the community. She, and others like her, desired to learn what the children’s family lives were like, in order to better understand their students and meet their educational needs.

One hot, sweltering, summer day; she was visiting with one of these families. She’d been standing there in the bare yard with the children’s parents for several minutes, as the children played joyfully in the dusty yard. As she stood and watched, she noticed one of the children remove a well-chewed piece of chewing gum from her mouth hand it to one of the other children. The child who received the “prize” popped it into his mouth; chewed viciously for several minutes then passed it on to another of the children. The mother of the children noticed Gramp’s puzzled gaze, and thinking that Gramp wanted to join the queue of gum chewers, called the child—who presently had the gum—over to where they were standing. Holding her hand up to the child’s lips, she demanded, “Suck the spit out of that gum and let “Mae Liza” chew it some!” (Mae Liza being the shortened version of Gramp’s name). “Mae Liza”, kindly declined that most generous offer because she knew that, contrary to popular belief, THERE IS NO JUICE IN JUICY FRUIT!

So what is the message here? Well, the message is two-fold. The first lesson to be learned is this: Young people! You don’t have it as bad as you think you do! At least you can open up a fresh pack of chewing gum and enjoy a stick of it, all to yourself. In the grand scheme of things, the minor inconveniences you have to endure are just not that serious.

The second message is of this ilk: Some of the “glitter” that is flashed before you is not really “gold”; it’s “Fool’s Gold”; it is JUICY FRUIT. Although the fancy packaging of the brand, implies that the contents are JUICY, there is no JUICE within; only a dry stick of sugary, cavity producing gum. The JUICE is something that you have to produce from within yourself. There just isn’t any JUICE in JUICY FRUIT! Get your education! FORGET the nonsense and while you’re at it, REMEMBER these 10 things.

1. The VALUE of TIME
2. The SUCCESS of PERSEVERANCE
3. The PLEASURE of WORK
4. The DIGNITY of SIMPLICITY
5. The WORTH of CHARACTER
6. The POWERS of KINDNESS
7. The VIRTUE of PATIENCE
8. The IMPROVEMENT of TALENT
9. The JOY of ORIGINATION

–AND–

10. The ABSENCE of JUICE in JUICY FRUIT!

“Receive my instruction and not silver and knowledge rather than choice gold, for wisdom is better than rubies, and all things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.” ~Proverbs 8:10-11

Next week; “God’s Lullaby”, a poem.