Read an Excerpt
Never Lick a Frozen Flagpole
Snow and ice covered the school grounds, but the sixth-grade class went outside forrecess anyway. In Jean Shepherd's delightful tale called A Christmas Story, Ralph andFlick and Swartz and four or five other students huddled in the cold, their conversationcreating clouds of vapor in their midst. Surveying the frosty schoolyard, one of the boysremembered a warning he'd heard from his father. If you touch your tongue to a frozenflagpole, his dad had said, you could never get it loose. You'd be there for life.
Another boy chimed in that his father actually knew a man who had touched his tongue to afrosty railroad track. The fire department had to come and get him loose.
"That's not so," said Flick, scoffing at his friends' stories.
All eyes darted from Flick to the school's frost-covered flagpole as Swartz,defending his father's integrity, hotly replied, "Then I dare you to doit!"
Daring is serious business to twelve-year-old boys.
Flick was tempted, but he didn't move. Then Swartz double-dared him. And as everytwelve-year-old boy knows, it is almost impossible to withstand a double-dare. Only onething is worse . . .
"I triple-dog dare you!" Swartz shouted.
That was it! No one could resist a triple-dog dare. Flick stuck out his tongue and headedfor the flagpole. He really didn't want to do it. But how could he live with the guysif he backed down on a triple-dog dare? Throwing his chin up with a cocky air, hedefiantly thrust his tongue against the frozen pole.
"Not so bad," he started to say. But the words wouldn't come out. And histonguewouldn't come off the pole.
The bell rang. Recess was over, and the kids ran for their classroom. Flick, stillattached to the flagpole, screamed bloody murder—as best he could.
Back in class, Miss Shields spotted the empty seat. "Where's Flick?" sheasked.
No one could seem to remember just who Flick was. Finally she looked out the window. Therestood poor little Flick with his tongue stuck fast to the flagpole. The fire departmentwas hastily summoned. The police came, too, sirens screaming. The whole sixth-grade classwatched from the window as the rescuers set the hapless boy free.
Flick returned to the classroom with his tongue bandaged. It would be at least a weekbefore he could talk clearly.
Why Do We Lick the Frozen Flagpole?
We've all done stupid things. When we're twelve years old, it's oftenbecause of a dare. When we're adults, our moments of stupidity may arise from simplecuriosity. Or risk-taking. Or yielding to some temptation even though we know better.
Many of us do stupid things because of our inherent sinful nature, that part of us theapostle Paul described in his letter to the Romans. We constantly fight against the pullof this nature to violate the law of the God in whose image we're made. When we losethe battle, we may find ourselves committing ridiculously foolhardy deeds or selfish andimmoral acts.
But more often I believe it's our inherent curiosity, rather than our sinful nature,that makes us want to lick the frozen flagpole. After all, God created us with imaginationand an adventurous spirit (some more adventurous than others!). And these parts of ourmakeup have nothing to do with evil. They're part of the marvelous zest for life wegot at birth. And in these cases, licking that flagpole may seem stupid to others, but tous it's more like a lesson in life. We're curious. We try it. And we learn fromthe experience without killing ourselves or anyone else or losing too much blood.
Human curiosity is apparent from our earliest days on earth. Just think how youngsters arefascinated by a hot stove. Tell them, "No, don't touch. Hot!" and theystand staring at it in curious wonder, drawn by its strange appeal. How hot? they wonder.Hot enough to melt my plastic horse? Hot enough to make the pages of my book turn black?Hot enough to . . . They want to touch it.
Later the same youngsters wonder what will happen if they shove the tweezers in theelectrical outlet. They watch Superman movies and wonder what it's like to fly. Sothey wrap a dishtowel around their necks, strip down to their Fruit of the Looms, and jumpoff the dining room table.
A few years later, as curious adolescents, they sneak out behind the barn and makecigarettes out of cedar bark wrapped in brown paper torn from a grocery sack. Or theysomehow get possession of a cheap, fat cigar and light up. They don't want to becomenicotine-addicted smokers. They're just curious, that's all. And the cigarisn't so bad at first. But ten minutes later, their stomachs are churning, andthey're running for Mama.
Then kids grow up and wonder what it's like to jump out of an airplane, climb amountain, or go scuba diving. They hitchhike around Europe or sail around the world.Sometimes curiosity leads folks to do things no one else can understand. They just seemlike good ideas at the time. And later they give us memories that warm us and make ussmile.
Here's an example: You might be surprised to learn that I own a Honda Gold Wingmotorcycle. I'm no Hell's Angel, just a retired minister who enjoys roaringaround curves doing fifty miles an hour at a forty-five degree angle, my hand on thethrottle and the wind gliding over my helmet. It was curiosity that caused this glitch inmy "normally normal" personality. I was thinking one day, I've seen theworld. I've seen a good bit of America. But I haven't seen my own state ofOklahoma. So I got out a state map and drew a line around the perimeter of the state,following the back roads. Riding my motorcycle, I stayed off the interstates and purredthrough the towns, seeing the sights and meeting the people. I took four days and threenights and drove 1,496 miles. What an experience! Pretty tame, I guess, compared withlicking a frozen flagpole. But for me, it was quite a thrill.
I traveled a couple of times with the venerable Dr. Norman
Vincent Peale. He once told me, "Never think age! You'll either say, 'Oh,I'm too old for that' (in which case you'll miss out on a lot oflife's good things), or you'll do all kinds of crazy things trying to look andact younger—and you'll end up looking like a fool."
The secret is to go with your spirit, he told me. Make the most of every day. Take a fewchances now and then and put a little excitement and adventure in your life. Whencuriosity consumes you, go ahead. Lick the frozen flagpole if you must. It may hurt alittle. But what fun you'll have later in the telling!
We are made in our Father's image; there is God in each of us (see Gen. 1:26). Andthat bit of immortality in our beings may be the source that sparks our curiosity, causingus to explore exciting new horizons in this marvelous world he created for us. Don'twait till all the lights are green! Get out there and live right now, while a couple ofthem are still flashing yellow. Take some chances. Grab some dreams. Go back (or moreaccurately, step forward) and get that degree you almost finished. Write that bookthat's been swirling around inside your head. Start your own business. Buy thatsports car. Build that house. Take that dream vacation.
If I had my life to live over, I'd spend my money and my time a lot differently.I'd own more toys, take more chances, step out on more adventures. I'd love moredeeply and freely.
Put Some Excitement in Your Spiritual Life
I can't live my whole life over, but I can still live what's left of it with ajoyful attitude of enthusiasm. One of the ways I can add zest and excitement to myeveryday existence is to add some adventures to my walk with God. Our relationship withthe Father can be a spiritual skydive, a true mountaintop experience. After all, one ofthe most exciting verses of Scripture says,
Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint. (Isa. 40:31)
My ministry has been an adventure! I began preaching at age seventeen. After serving acouple of churches in Texas and Arkansas, my family and I were called to Australia. Justimagine it! We left the States hardly knowing how we'd survive. But once we answeredGod's call, the money and the sponsoring church just fell into place. What athrilling thing God's providence is!
Then, after seven years of this adventure in the "Land Down Under," we werecalled to help start a new church in Tulsa,
Oklahoma, and we were there until I retired from that work after twenty-six years, eightmonths, and six days. We saw that congregation grow from ninety-one people to more thantwelve hundred. Our highest attendance on a special day reached almost five thousandworshipers! We also began an annual International Soul-Winning Workshop that continues tothis day, attracting more than twelve thousand people from all over the world to the TulsaFairgrounds for the yearly event.
Did I say I had retired? Well, don't think that means I've quit working!I'll never quit. God just transferred me to a different department. I now get tospend a month each year working in both Australia and South Africa. I do a weekly TV show,Peak of the Week Live! And I travel to churches and professional groups all over Americaparticipating in workshops and seminars.
Just God and Me
Through my work I've learned how exciting the spiritual life can be. It's justGod and me, out there on the cutting edge, one curious adventure after another. Just as Ionce wondered, What if we did a TV show, Lord? How could we do it? What would the formatbe? I can now feel curiosity leading me into other adventures of spreading the Gospel.
I'm like the guy who said, "I used to endure my Christianity; now I'menjoying it!" And another who said, "I'm having a lot more fun on my way toheaven than I ever did on my way to hell!"
You don't have to lick a frozen flagpole or respond to every triple-dog-dare thatcomes your way in order to live life with zest and enthusiasm. You don't have toskinny dip in the baptistry. But there are spiritual adventures out there, waiting to beexperienced and enjoyed. There are people out there aching to be saved. And I know justthe Guy to take along as your partner through the passage. He's got quite a historyof adventures in his own right. And when it comes to loyalty, he'll love you like aFather.
Go on and live! Go with God.
