"Prayer does not change God, but it changes him who prays." ~ Soren Kierkegaard

Friday, May 29, 2009

Red Skelton Wisdom

Lately I've been on this kick of watching old television shows, I Love Lucy, Bewitched, Sanford & Son, I Dream of Genie, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, The Red Skelton Show, etc. The Red Skelton Show and I Love Lucy tie for first.
Red Skelton always ended his shows with "Good night and God bless." I was curious so I looked up his biography and found a few quotes of his that astounded me. One I had heard before, his explanation of the Pledge of Allegiance. The other was about his character Freddy the Freeloader.

"I get asked all the time; Where did you get the idea for Freddie the Freeloader, and who is Freddie really?

Well, I guess you might say that Freddie the Freeloader is a little bit of you, and a little bit of me, a little bit of all of us, you know.
He’s found out what love means. He knows the value of time. He knows that time is a glutton. We say we don’t have time to do this or do that. There’s plenty of time. The trick is to apply it. The greatest disease in the world today is procrastination.

And Freddie knows about all these things. And so do you.
He doesn’t ask anybody to provide for him, because it would be taken away from you. He doesn’t ask for equal rights if it’s going to give up some of yours.
And he knows one thing ... that patriotism is more powerful than guns.

He’s nice to everybody because he was taught that man is made in God’s image. He’s never met God in person and the next fella just might be him.

I would say that Freddie is a little bit of all of us."

I think the world would be a much better place if we all had that outlook on life. It reminded me of Matt. 25:34-40

Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Here's him reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.


Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

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