"I'll make an easy one first." Jason set the dimensions of the maze and in a few seconds the screen was filled with lines. "Neat, man," Jason said. "Now I just push the print button up here and . . . " They both waited in vain for the printer to spring into action. "Boy, I hope it isn't broken," Jason remarked.
#59- Is Sincere Enough?
A Character story about sincerity.
"Hi, Mom. I'm home," Jason called as he pushed the back door shut and began to yank off his boots.
"Hi, Son. Where's Julie?"
"Don't you remember? She's went to Karen's. You said she could, didn't you?"
"Oh, that's right. I had so much on my mind today, I just forgot. So, how was your day today?"
"Not so good."
"Really? What happened?"
"Oh, in history class today the teacher got to talking about some of the 'old civilizations' and their religions. Then she said, 'These people were just as sincere about their religion as we are today. After all, being sincere is what really matters, isn't it?' Well, I just couldn't let that one pass by so I raised my hand and told her I disagreed. She didn't even wait for my reason but just said I shouldn't judge others, and then changed the subject."
"Well, I'm proud of you for speaking out anyway," Mrs. Jensen said with a smile.
"Yeah, well, that wasn't all. Teresa cornered me between classes and let me have it for disagreeing with the teacher. So I told her that just being sincere doesn't make something right. Then she just stamped off in a huff. And I think Jonathan is mad at me too. I guess this was my day for making enemies."
"I didn't think Jonathan would be mad at you for saying that. Anyway, maybe a glass of milk and a cookie will help. What do you think?"
"I'm not sure, but it's worth a try!" Jason grinned.
When Jason finished his snack, he wiped his face with his sleeve and turned to his mother. "Thanks, Mom. That was great. I have a few minutes before supper. I think I'll download a free program off the internet I heard about today. It's supposed to draw a maze any size or difficulty. This I'll have to see."
"That will be interesting," His mother agreed, "but are you finished with your school work?"
"I just have a little and it will only take a few minutes to download. It'll be a good break from the slavery of the school day." Jason eased out of the room before his mother could discourage his plan. After booting up the computer, he was soon scanning the screen and clicking here and there with the mouse.
When Jason heard his dad's voice at the back door, he glanced at his watch. "Five-thirty?!" he said to himself in disbelief. "Boy, does the time ever fly faster at the computer than in school!"
"Hi, Son," Mr. Jensen greeted as he entered the room with a large box in hand.
"Hi, Dad. What's this?" Jason asked, cocking his head to read the side.
"It's a big surprise, even for me. In the paper today was an advertisement for a computer printer. I checked it out, and, well, here it is."
"Really?!!! Wow! This is neat. Let's hook it up."
"O.K. That should be easy with this cord here." After unpacking it, Jason plugged the long cord into the computer while Mr. Jensen inserted his end into the printer. Then they stuffed some paper into the paper tray. Finally, plugging it in the wall, Mr. Jensen turned on the switch. "There, that's all there is to it. Now, what can we print to try it out. What do you have in it here?"
"I just downloaded a program that is supposed to draw a maze. Let's see if we can get it to print."
"All right," his dad agreed.
"I'll make an easy one first." Jason set the dimensions of the maze and in a few seconds the screen was filled with lines. "Neat, man," Jason said. "Now I just push the print button up here and . . . " They both waited in vain for the printer to spring into action. "Boy, I hope it isn't broken," Jason remarked.
"No, I don't think so. They tried it at the store. Let's see, we have the ink cartridge in, the power on, the line cord in . . .Oh, I know what it is now."
"You do? Well tell me."
"We never installed the printer driver."
"The what?" Jason asked.
"The printer driver. It is on this disk here," he said pulling a disk from the box. "The driver tells the computer what commands to send to the printer so the printer will understand and print what's on the screen. It's like, well, like a translator." Mr. Jensen inserted the disk and soon the driver was loaded.
"Now let's try it again," Jason suggested eagerly. He pushed the print button and immediately the printer came to life feeding the paper through. Jason took the paper and looked at the maze. "Perfect. Now let's make a really hard maze. Thanks a lot, Dad. It sure seemed like a little thing to make it work."
"You're right," Mr. Jensen agreed. "You don't have to miss the truth by much before you have error. Computers are fussy that way. No matter how sincere you are, they still demand everything their way. But if you give it to them their way, then they will reward you with success."
"Say, that's the answer to what my teacher said today!"
"What's that?"
"My history teacher was telling us that past civilizations were sincere in worshiping idols and that's what really matters. I tried to say something but she cut me off. But one thing's for sure; being sincere is sure not enough with computer programs!"
"That right, Son. I heard the story once of a mountain climber who grabbed a spider web, sincerely thinking it was something solid. Sincerity did not change its fragile nature. That's true with eternal truth as well. Sincerity does not make error into truth. If sincerity had been enough, Jesus never would have had to die. He said, 'Ye shall know the truth, and the truth-not just sincerity- shall set you free.' We each must humbly accept God's Word the Bible, not our own sincere opinions, as absolute truth."
"That's for sure," Jason agreed.
"And sincerity will not get your homework done either," Mrs. Jensen remarked from the kitchen.
"Oh, that's right. I almost forgot. Thanks for reminding me."
Just then Julie came in the back door. "Hey, Sis. Come quick. Dad got us a printer! I'm about to print out the hardest maze you ever saw."
- - - - - - - - - -
Speaking of puzzles:
1) A farmer was asked how many cows he had. He answered, "If 1/4, 1/5 and 1/6 of the herd were added together they would make 37." How many cows did he have?
2) The sum of the ages of Bill and John is 91 years. Bill is twice as old as John was when Bill was as old as John is now. How old is each?
3) There is a well twenty feet deep. A frog climbs upward five feet in the daytime but at night falls asleep and falls back four feet. How many days does it take him to get out of the well?
Answers:
1) 60 cows
2) Bill is 52, John is 39
3) 16 days