Hi, all. Just a thought to help start your weekend. 

Because of a meeting my wife was attending, I got to spend some time in New Orleans last week. While she worked, I walked. She later calculated that I had roamed probably 11 miles by foot in a 48 hour period, all within one square mile.

I walked the paths along the Mississippi River and around Jackson Square, the aisles between the pews in the St. Louis Cathedral, the streets in and around the French Quarter, the sidewalks of Canal Street, and the nearby storefronts. But one place I did a lot of walking was inside the Audubon Aquarium, where I met the little fellow pictured here.

This penguin and his buddies are used to the crowds, and they love to dance around in the water and entertain. This one nosed up to the glass to get a good look at me.

Funny. I paid to enter the place, to roam its halls and exhibits, staring at every creature within its walls. And yet the tables were turned here. The penguins seemed to be the ones staring at us. I wonder if I had the experience backward. Were the animals there to entertain me, or was I there to entertain them?

We get life backwards like that as well. For some reason, we seem to think that God’s purpose is to be here for me. He’s to be at my beck and call, to speak when I ask, to provide me with what I want, and to keep me entertained. Actually, we are here for His purposes. We are to serve Him, to worship Him, to bless Him, to walk and talk and live for Him.

As long as I remain here on this earth, along with all of its other creatures, I am here to do all I do for my God, Who watches me constantly, cares for me always, and will never leave me behind.

Enjoy this new perspective on your aquarium of life this week. Oh, and keep your noses off the glass. Somebody has to clean up behind the penguins.

Just a thought.

’Til later.

Rev. Brad Campbell can be reached at mastah.pastah@yahoo.com.