Dependability and Reliability

Cal Ripkin, Jr. Of the Baltimore Orioles baseball team broke Lou Gehrig's seemingly insurmountable record of 2,130 consecutive games played. Gehrig never missed a game for over 15 seasons. He played despite a broken toe, a broken rib, a broken thumb, a twisted back, several attacks of lumbago, and numerous bouts with colds and the flu. Gehrig and Ripkin remind us of the importance of dependability.

Where would we be without those low-key, self-effacing individuals who just do their thing day after day? Today, notice and thank several people whose dependability makes your life easier: the one who prepares your dinner, the custodian who cleans your office, the garbage collector, the one who delivers your newspaper each morning. Thank the Lou Gehrigs and Cal Ripkins who are all around you, dependable people you can count on.

 - Bill Bouknight, Christ United Methodist Church, Memphis, TN