Abolutely

If you travel the Trans-Canada Highway in Nova Scotia between Truro and New Glasgow you will enter Pictou County. If you take exit 19 at Saltsprings onto Route 4, then take a right and travel about 5 kilometers, then turn left onto Route 376 and continue for another 5 kilometers, then turn left onto Durham Road to Scotsburn, then travel 4 kilometers and turn left onto O. MacLean Road and then travel another 3 kilometers up the rocky incline of Fitzpatrick mountain, you will come to the beautiful Stonehame Lodge. As you come into the large cleared area at the crown of the mountain where the lodge and chalets are located, if you look back over your shoulder you will be treated to the beautiful maritime panoramic view of the historic Pictou Harbour. If you look forward and to your right you will notice a very large rock. If you look close at that rock you will see a plaque set at the front of it. You might have to get out of your vehicle to actually read what it says but I will paste the text for you here.

This is how it reads:

“Howard Smith was a bachelor who farmed here on Fitzpatrick Mountain in the early 1900’s. One day he told some of his neighbors that he was going to blast a huge rock out of one of his fields, but promised that he would get help doing it. That afternoon a blast was heard by neighbors and they assumed that the rock had been demolished. The next day, July 14, 1938, his brother stopped by to see him but only found the door open to his little cottage and some of Howard’s blood stained clothes on the bed. A search party was conducted and Howard’s body was found a short distance from his barn. This is the rock that tragically took Howard’s life and is a symbol of the hardships many faced during these times. It has been placed here in his memory and the memory of all those who toiled over this land.”

As I stood in front of that rock and read those words, an old saying slipped into my mind – ‘A little hard work never hurt anyone’! The saying is generally true, but not absolutely true. It killed Howard Smith. Some things are absolutely true. Other things are more generally true. And of course, some things are just plain false. We must be careful to distinguish between what is true and what is false, but we also need to be careful to distinguish between the things that are generally true and the things that are absolute.

As Christians, we bemoan how the world refuses to recognize the existence of absolute truth. This is a great folly for sure and one that ultimately leads to destruction. However, we must be careful that we do not make the opposite mistake by not recognizing the fact that most things are in fact relative. God Himself illustrates the point by giving us the OT book of Proverbs, a collection of sayings that are generally true. Though the book of Proverbs does contain some absolute statements, particularly the ones about God who does not change, it is mostly filled with statements that are more general in nature.

Of course, the main theme of the book of Proverbs is wisdom and it would appear that a large part of wisdom is the ability to distinguish between the things that change and the things that change not, for the God who changes not, is after all, very interested in change. Make no mistake about that.

"God, grant us the serenity to accept things we cannot change, courage to change the things we can, and the wisdom to know the difference."