AN EXHIBITION OF GRACE
The Canadian National Exhibition was 125 years young this year. The CNE or EX as we call it, has been part of our family fabric since I was a little kid. Every year we would come to the EX and do the rides and the food building until one or the other made us sick (it was usually a combination of both).
To both Sheila and me and many others, the CNE is a mixture of summer fun and the impending doom of a new school year. Each summer, the CNE starts around August 15 and ends on the Labour Day weekend-thus the bittersweet tradition of being excited about going to the Ex and getting depressed that the Ex signaled the beginning of another year of slavery to studentry. Still, like all good traditions, you just have to be part of it.
Even while we lived in the Maritimes, we were able to make it to the CNE a few times so that we could indoctrinate our children at a young age. They, like us before them, are now part of the CNE tradition.
This year we had tickets for the first day of the EX. Unfortunately the blackout of 2003 interrupted our plans. As a result of the complications and strain on the grid that the Blackout caused, the CNE was asked to stay closed for the first four days of the season. So, between blackouts and busy schedules it almost looked like we weren't going to make it this year, but we made it a priority and made the time to get there this past Monday. It's interesting how we can make fun things a "must do" priority, isn't it? Lucky for you and me this isn't a Whatcha on priorities so we can relax!
Hitting the EX on the last day it's open isn't for the faint of heart. The crowds are larger and everything takes longer to do, but on the upside, there are some pretty good deals and an even greater level of excitement-not to mention the fact that it is a great way to take your mind off school beginning the very next day.
Part of our family EX tradition includes playing a couple of the carnival games to see if the boys can add to their stuffed trophy collection. Both David and Graham tend toward the games that require the hitting of targets with darts. We were among the first at the games section of the midway and things were still getting started. The big draw this year (the stuffed creature of choice) was Sponge Bob Squarepants. David, though, was still after the Tasmanian Devil of Looney Tunes fame. David loves Taz. I think it has something to do with their similarity in energy and etiquette!
If you are unfamiliar with skill-testing dart games, the basic concept works like this: you have several small targets to hit with your three darts. If you get one you get a small prize. If you get two you get a medium prize. If you hit three you get a large prize. If you don't hit anything you walk away a plushless wonder, or you put up more money for a second try.
Well, guess what? David missed all three times. He was on the verge of plush poverty and his pouting prowess was about to kick in when the game operator did something very uncharacteristic. He removed one of David's darts from a blank space and reinserted it in a star! David walked away with a very cool Marvin the Martian (a character of which Sheila, my wife, does a very good impression, but that's another story!)
David tried his best, but lost. He didn't have the skill to hit the star. He tried, but didn't even come close. If you think about it, that's the way it is with these games, they favor the owner, not the player. But none of that mattered because the man who ran the show took David's failure and made him a winner. What a wonderful picture of grace. This is exactly what Jesus did for us.
Life in this world doesn't favor the player, either. In fact, the odds of winning the prize of salvation are too great to calculate. We can't hit the star, no matter how hard we try. Praise God for turning those odds around by sending his Son. Jesus' life hit the star every time and because of that, He was able to transfer his winning life to us so that our "missing the mark life" (sinful life) could be transferred to him.
Paul, speaking about Jesus, says, "God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God."(2 Corinthians 5:21)
The Man in charge (our Heavenly Father) has fixed the game so that we can all be winners. All we have to do is receive some help from the perfect shot - Jesus His Son. Jesus has a star with your name on it and the prize is even more out of this world than Marvin - eternity in loving relationship with God. Have you come to Him to collect it yet, or in my paraphrase of Marvin's immortal words, has the earth obscured your view of Heaven?
If you have any thoughts or questions, please e-mail me by clicking on my name at the bottom of this page. I promise to write back.
