Following the Rules or Not

by Roger Day

“My earliest firsthand experience with the frustrating behavior of human beings took place at school when I was in first grade. It had snowed, and it was time for recess. The teacher divided the class into two groups, and chose me to be one of the group leaders. My assignment was to lead my group in a single file through the snow to first make a circle, and then divide it into pie slices. It started out well.

I made a large circle, with the long line of my fellow students trudging behind me. This was great — they were all following me! So next, it was to be divided into pie slices. I turned and headed for the center of the circle. At this point, the group broke up. They started making their own pie slices. I was aghast — my leadership had been abandoned! My classmates were all out of order and clearly having great fun making their own pie slices. I yelled, but no one cared.

Because of my impressionable age, this experience had a lasting effect upon me. It was certainly like having a bucket of cold water thrown on one’s trust in the behavior of others. It wasn’t but a couple years later that I overheard talk of a policeman who had been arrested for a crime. This was staggering news to me at my young age. Policemen were supposed to catch criminals, not be criminals — another bucket of cold water! And as time went by, I learned very well that folks like to go their own way, not following any rules that would crimp their style. And I became guilty of this same behavior. Fancy that — just as human as everyone else!…”

(this article is an excerpt from the March–April 2013 edition of the Sabbath Sentinel)

To read the rest of this article, which starts on page 15, click this link: https://biblesabbath.org/media/TSS_2013_Mar-Apr–560.pdf