The printed word. Years ago, they said that the printed word would be gone from existence by 2020. Everything would be electronic. That may happen eventually, but I think we will still have plenty of print left by 2020.

A typical paperback book has 300 to 320 words to a full page; that is, a page that has no pictures or the page that begins or ends a chapter. The typical paperback book has at least 300 pages, usually more. So, the typical paperback book will have 90,000 to 110,000 words. The King James Version of the Bible has 788,280 words. There are other numbers, depending on which version of the English Bible you use. Some shorten verses, some take verses out and some add verses. But, essentially, there are over 788,000 words in the Bible. All the tens of thousands of publications account for billions and billions of words, all vying for our attention. And then there are the videos and audio downloads and people talking and yelling and making NOISE! All have the answer to life’s issues, yet, for the most part, they don’t agree.

          For me, I believe that there is one set of writings for each application. For life, I say the Bible is the book to follow. And not just follow, but adhere to, word for word. If I am putting something together, I want the instructions for that item. When my son was a teenager I was trying to assemble a gift for him. The instructions made absolutely no sense. It finally dawned on me that whoever packed that particular box put the wrong instructions in it. I was really irritated and in my mind, I could see some bored guy at some factory somewhere telling his buddies about the day he put the wrong directions in a box. In my mind all of them are laughing. If I am going to play a game, I want the rules down in black and white. Baseball without a rule book is mayhem. We used to play a game when I was a kid called “Murder the Guy with the Ball.” It was football without rules. Everything has to have a set of rules and regulations to live by, even if those rules and regulations go on and on.

          Now we look at our society and we see anger and frustration and confusion. There are those calling for the reversal of the election results. There are those calling for the arrest of the previous office holders. There are those making outrageous claims about this or that and saying something should be done. And yet, there is a document of less than 7,800 words, easy to read and readily available at no charge that can settle all this nonsense once and for all. Yet, only about one percent of the people in this country have read it. It is called the Constitution of the United States of America.

          One man was breathing fire at me one day, snarling about what was right and wrong. I asked him what the Constitutions said about them issue. He just looked at me like I was an idiot. “I don’t have time to read the Constitution! We have people who do that!” Why do we need people to tell us what is in a document that is less than 30 pages long? It is not technical, it is not boring and it is not full of legalese. It is the document our country was founded on. It is our rule book and you can read it in a few hours! Why do we need people to tell is what it says?

          Wait a minute, you say. I have read the Constitution! OK, here is a test. If you are as old as I am, you had to learn the beginning words of three documents when you were in elementary school.

          “Four score and seven years ago……”

          “We the People of the United States…...”

          “When in the Course of human events……”

          What is each of those phrases from? Who wrote them? When was the last time you read any of them? Sing the song from “Gilligan’s Island.” That last one is the easy one, but don’t feel proud of yourself if you knew the song but didn’t know what documents the phrases are from.

          Some years ago I sat with my Elders and shared with them the sinful acts that their denomination was involved in. Our Elder chair looked at me in disbelief. “Don’t they read their Bibles?” My answer was, “No.” The same is true with the political unrest in this country. People are running around screaming that this or that is unconstitutional, yet they themselves do not read the document. Often, they even call themselves Constitutional attorneys. That doesn’t mean they have read the document.

          When a soldier, sailor, airman or Marine takes the enlistment oath, they say, “I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.” I have said that one myself, and meant every word. The key to the oath is supporting and defending the Constitution. Many have paid with their lives living up to that promise.

          Make the effort. The Constitution is available on-line. The government gives them out for free. If you are a Christian, you dishonor God if you don’t know the Bible. If you are an American, you dishonor those soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines if you don’t know your Constitution.