If "Circle, circle, dot, dot; now you have a cooties shot" means anything to you, then you probably have watched "The Big Bang Theory" recently. I was a little fuzzy on the exact meaning so I went to Wikipedia and found out that the term became popular during the FIRST WORLD WAR as a description of the bug infestations that were common in the opposing trenches. Basically, bugs were transferred by some sort of physical contact. And so we come to the picture where a young guy of maybe five or six is calling his "sweetheart" to give her the bad news. Make no mistake... IT IS BAD NEWS!!! Head lice in kids is very contagious and hard to exterminate!!! BUT, as I looked at the picture, it occurred to me that at least he cared enough to CALL!!!!! Concern for others is a very "grown-up" thing to do and says a lot about this youngster's character. This, of course, made me think of a passage from the book of Philippians....
Philippians Chapter 2
1 If there is therefore any exhortation in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassion, 2 make my joy full, by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind; 3 doing nothing through rivalry or through conceit, but in humility, each counting others better than himself; 4 each of you not just looking to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others.
5 Have this in your mind, which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, yes, the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name; 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Like Corinth, the assembly of Christians at Philippi had problems. They, too, needed to be reminded to care for one another and here the Apostle Paul does just that. He also gives them the supreme example... Jesus. Most of us do nice things for others from time to time, but to care for others MORE THAN WE DO FOR OURSELVES, that is another matter entirely!!! Yet, that is EXACTLY what Jesus did and the scope of it is phenomenal!!! We can never do what Jesus did because HE had a grander starting point, but we can show love and concern for others and that is an excellent place to start. Who knows; it may begin with something as simple as a phone call....