Hey will you shut that stupid thing off? Not you of course. Unless you have one too. Perhaps you've heard of them? Car alarms. They don't have quite the same effect as other alarms. A tornado alarm sets everyone running for cover. A burglar alarm (even when set off accidentally because I thought my brother was at school) is a terrifying howl. But a car alarm? When is the last time you heard someone say "Oh no! Some poor soul's car is being broken into! Immediate action must be taken!!" Things like that aren't said. It's more along the lines of "Not another one, where is that sound even coming from? There are 246 cars in this parking lot, how can I even tell which one is making such a horrid noise??" At least that's what I say. Or what I would say if someone was with me when I thought of that. Car alarms are rather persistent sounds that blend into the background. Unless, of course, it is your car alarm that is going off. Aha, progress. My car beeps its horn at approximately one-second intervals. After several of these one seconds, it becomes an intense bother. I had never paid attention to car alarms until mine started going off. (apparently for the fun of it now because I can use my key and it still goes off at various times, maybe it's lonely). To put this in a nice gift-wrapped box that would impress your mother, I will move on to the point. God is like a car alarm. He tries to get our attention by scaring us to death with car horns. No, no that's not it. It's more like this. If I don't listen to Him, He might fade into the background.

As always, this is more for my benefit than yours.

 etheg