Too Much of a Good Thing

Too Much of a Good Thing
by Louise Bergmann DuMont

This past winter a coworker began mixing small amounts of cinnamon with the ground coffee. The addition was minimal, but the coffee’s spicy flavor made our breakfast breaks especially pleasant.

This same coworker took a vacation recently and a different individual was called upon to prepare the morning brew. He must have felt that if a little cinnamon tasted good, a lot of cinnamon would taste even better. What started out as an interesting, flavor enhanced experiment turned into a bitter, dump-this-down-the-drain-quick elixir. Trust me – more is not always better.

A friend’s youngster pointed this out to me again just last week. His mom and I were having a cup of coffee when he came running into the house. His eyes sparkled like 4th of July firecrackers.

~~~~~~~~~~
“Mom, mom – I know a joke.”

“Really. Where did you hear this joke?”

“Kyle told it to me. Can I tell it to you... please?”

“Sure – go ahead,” his mom said smiling.

“How do you know that an elephant was in your refrigerator?”

The two of us grinned at each other as we recognized the age-old joke. Winking at me, his mother played along. “I don’t know, Andy. How would I know if an elephant had been in our refrigerator?”

Andy bounced up and down with unrestrained excitement as he delivered the punch line.

“You’d know because you could see his footsteps in the peanut butter!!!”

We both broke out in a laugh as my friend gave her son a hug. It was fun to see another generation delight in the same jokes we once enjoyed – but the story doesn’t end there. A few minutes later, Andy was back.

“Mom, Mom... I got a joke for you.”

“Another one?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.

Her son quickly launched into the same joke. My friend smiled patiently, patted her son on the head and shooed him off to play while we finished our discussion.

Not a minute later Andy was back and a minute after that he was back yet again.

“Mom, I got a joke for you.”

Tension rode my friend’s face. “Andy, is this the same joke you told us the last three times?”

His smile turned downward as he stammered his answer.

“Y-y-es…”

His mom’s face softened. “Honey, you can’t keep telling the same joke over and over.”

Andy’s eyes grew large and he turned his face toward hers.

“But you thought I was funny. It made you laugh!”

“Yes, but it isn’t funny when you tell the same joke over and over.”

“Oh.” The twinkle left his eyes.

How about we go to the library tomorrow and find some new elephant joke books. OK?” my friend offered.
“OK.”

His mom caught Andy’s arm before he could run back off to play. “Honey, you don’t have to tell me jokes to make me smile. All you have to do is give me a hug.”

Andy’s grin returned as he wrapped his arms around his mother’s neck.

~~~~~~~~~~

We all occasionally yearn for extra love and attention. This can lead us to think that doing more good will earn us additional accolades. It is only when we recognize that God’s love is never dependent upon what we do, that we can spice our words and life in the appropriately measure – adding enough to provide a unique and rich flavor – but not so much as to make everyone sick.

“It is not good to eat too much honey...” Proverbs 25:27a