Actually, for the three minutes you
get a beer. The Dutch brewery, Amstel,
created a beer vending machine (link)
that rewarded people with a free beer if they could slack off for three minutes
. . . that means no cellphones or talking to other people or picking your nose
. . . if you couldn’t, well, the machine would ring a bell and you would have
to start all over. The company wanted to
remind people that it is good to take a time out from the busyness of our everyday
world and just relax. Three minutes of
nothingness and . . . ding . . . a beer came rolling out. According to my boss
at the university I probably could have walked away with a case!
The Good Book tells us that we should
pause in the busyness of life and relax . . . I think it was on that tablet
Moses dropped on the way down from his conference with God on the mountain . .
. something like the fifteenth commandment . . . don’t worry, be happy sort of
thing. I imagine God knows what God is
talking about . . . but, I don’t understand why God didn’t come up with the
beer vending machine on God’s own. Downright
inspirational! Beer and slacking off . .
. kind of go hand in hand. It may not be the “golden rule”, but the “amber rule”
will suffice.
Quoting a phrase that is often
misattributed to Benjamin Franklin, the reason God created beer was to make us
happy. And, God must want to make us
very, very happy because there is so much beer being produced . . . and I am
not talking about that massed produced stuff being made by the big breweries
like Budweiser or Miller . . . I am talking about all the micro-breweries. Montana has well over thirty micro-breweries
creating some of the best beer a god-fearing person could ever want to relax
with:
So many breweries . . . so little
vacation time! I need more time to
relax!
I have always considered myself to be
a person of faith. I have always attempted
to live my life in accordance with God’s desires. And, I will be the first to admit that I have
not always come through quite like God would want me to . . . especially when
it comes to relaxing from the busyness of life.
I think it was the prophet Hops who said, “All work and no play makes
for a grumpy disciple.” Lately, I have
been grumpy . . . the wife tells me to relax . . . the children tell me to
relax . . . friends tell me to relax. I
hear the spirits calling my name . . . relax and have a Moose Drool!
If the Amstel brewing company was
willing to depart with a can of beer for three minutes of relaxation . . .
well, imagine what God would be willing to do for a little relaxation on our
parts . . . I can! My only problem is I
am not sure which comes first . . . the beer or the relaxation. They sort of go hand-in-hand. I could probably become a monk for an eternal
supply of brew.
Inspiration comes in all sorts of
shapes and sizes. Three minutes is well
worth the effort . . . what gives you inspiration to stop, relax, and enjoy
life? For me, a good IPA beer does it
every time. God can put my beer vending
machine in the garage . . . that is my prayer!
Amen!
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