Craig Clouston

My House…My Rules

And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?

Luke 16:12

“Sure,” Chet answered the caller, “the hall is available the twenty-third. I’ll put you on the calendar. Just remember, no alcohol and no smoking.” With that he hung up and wrote the caller’s name on the calendar, securing the hall for their wedding reception.

His final comment caused me to ask, “Do you get requests to rent the hall for wild parties?”

“You’d be surprised,” he said. “There was a group a few years ago,” he reminisced. “When they failed to return the key long after the appointed time, I went down to see what was going on. I walked in the back door and found two guys lying on the floor, drunk as skunks. I ignored them and went into the main hall. I’d never seen such a mess, and haven’t had one since,” he emphasized. “Whiskey bottles littered the floor. They’d had beer on ice in a couple large washtubs; both of which had been dumped on the floor; there was water everywhere.”

Chet chuckled as he shared how he’d handled the situation. “I grabbed those two by their collars, pulled them up off that floor, and ran them out the back door. I told ’em, ‘Take your money and get out! This is my house! When you come to my house you abide by my rules. If you can’t do that, don’t bother coming back!”

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Respect of others and their property, is something we learn the same as good manners and good moral character. If these are found lacking in anyone it is generally because they were never taught how to behave themselves, either at home or in public.

You never have to tell someone with good manners to respect someone else, or their property. It never enters their mind to disrespect someone.

Sadly, in our ‘it’s all about me’ society, self-interest presumes that because they paid to rent the space, they are entitled to bring their own set of rules to the party.

By failing to teach our children to respect others and their property, we are fostering an untrustworthy generation.

Prayer

“Lord, may I treat others as if I’m doing it to You. Amen.”