The Lemonade Test
I am a very logical person. When I was in high school, I was always good in math. When I see something like: If a=b, and b=c, then a=c; it makes perfect sense to me. There are no ifs, ands, or buts with math.
English is a totally different story for me. Things like: “i” before “e,” except after “c,” or sounding as “a,” as in neighbor and weigh, grant you too many exceptions. Why do words like red and read, or read and reed, or to and too and two, sound the same, but mean completely different things? Who decides what the exceptions are and when to apply them? How am I ever going to learn to spell anything if there are so many exceptions to the rule?
To get into college, when I was younger, I had to take the SAT test. It was divided into two parts: English and Math. I was told you automatically got 200 points on each part if you put your name on correctly. So after much practicing on my name, it was off to take the test.
I was much more worried about the English part than I was about the Math part. I decided to use logic with the English side. I wasn’t going to let those smart people pull a fast one over on me. I came to the section where you had to find the synonym for a word. I decided it made sense that if word started with a letter, say “t,” then the synonym couldn’t possibly start with the same letter: “t” in this case. If all the word choices started with the same letter as the original word, I just guessed.
Let’s just say, I’m glad I spent so much time working on spelling my name correctly. I scored under 400 points on the English side, which meant I got more points for putting my name on correctly than I did by taking the test.
Lucy Ware Webb was the third child, and first daughter, of Dr. James and Maria Cook Webb. Her family had real strong religious beliefs. Her two older brothers would become doctors, too. A huge cholera epidemic spread through the land and her Dad treated as many people as he possibly could. Unfortunately, Dr. Webb would contract the cholera himself and die.
Her father’s death didn’t stop her mother from making sure she raised her children so they weren’t afraid to make a difference. When Lucy’s brothers enrolled at Ohio Wesleyan University, Lucy was permitted to enroll in a college prep program there. This was despite the fact that, at this time in our history, women were not permitted the opportunity to study at Wesleyan.
A few months after her prep program, Lucy enrolled at Cincinnati Wesleyan Female College. She would graduate, which was a rare thing for a woman at that time in our history.
According to the Bible, Didymus was his name. “Didymus” means twin. Although the Bible doesn’t mention a sibling, he must have had a brother or sister who was his twin. John MacArthur, in his book “Twelve Ordinary Men,” would compare him to Eeyore in Winnie the Pooh and he would call him a “worrywart.”
Jesus had a friend who lived close to Jerusalem in a little town named Bethany. Jesus wasn’t real popular in Jerusalem at this time. In fact, if the religious rulers had their way, they wished He was dead. Jesus’ disciples were well aware of this fact.
When Jesus’ friend got sick, they didn’t head straight to Bethany. The disciples were very happy about that. Then, as if to change His mind, Jesus decided they would head to Bethany after all.
My mind hasn’t wandered much from its logical stance. I can take a spreadsheet and sort it a dozen different ways and glean so much information out of it. I still get frustrated when I do something “logically” and it doesn’t behave in the manner I think it is supposed to, though.
If I work on something that follows a logical pattern, and I make a mistake, or don’t understand it the right way, I rarely make that same mistake again once I figure it out. I believe I heard once that failure is not making a mistake, its doing the exact same thing over and over again and expecting different results. That is a philosophy I often use to steer my trials.
Lucy’s father, just before he passed away, inherited 15-20 slaves from his aunt. Both Lucy’s Dad and Mom strongly opposed slavery. Her father was on the way to free those slaves when he died. Everyone told Lucy’s mother that she should just sell the slaves to help out with some of the bills. Lucy’s mother responded, “I would rather take up washing before I would sell one of those slaves.” She freed them.
One could easily see where Lucy got her strong beliefs. In fact, in college she even wrote an essay entitled: “Is Traveling on the Sabbath Consistent with Christian Principles?” Her Mom instilled in her the importance of having a life of, not only of sound Christian principles, but also a life strong enough to live by those principles.
Lucy and her sister-in-law, Fanny Platt, would attend a lecture by famous woman’s suffrage leader, Lucy Stone. Lucy Stone advocated wage and other reforms for women. There are no records that show that Lucy had any involvement in any of those suffrage movements, but there is no doubt that she took them to heart. When Susan B. Anthony would ask to send delegates to the International Council of Women, Lucy would decline that request as the president of the Woman’s Home Missionary Society. The International Council of Women was part of the Woman’s Home Missionary Society.
Lucy would also be close to the abolition cause. She strongly encouraged her husband to enlist in the Twenty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War. She would visit him often on the battlefield. You could often spot her helping her brother, Dr. Joe Webb, caring for the sick on the battlefield. She would also try to cheer up the soldiers who were homesick and comfort those who were dying. She earned the nickname “Mother Lucy.” Her infant son, Joe, would even die at one of those Army camps.
Lucy would be the first First Lady to invite an African-American to perform at the White House. Fredrick Douglass would introduce Madame Selika before she performed.
After she left the White House, Lucy, would become the national president of the newly formed Woman’s Home Missionary Society of the Methodist Church. In that role, she would plead for action to help the urban poor and the disenfranchised African-Americans.
Didymus decided he would take one for the team. Jesus told him that the disciples were going to head for Bethany. Instead of believing that Jesus had it all worked out and everything would be okay, Didymus would say (try to use your best Eeyore voice on this one), “Okay, we’ll go with Him so we can die with Him.”
To make matters worse, when they got there, they found out Jesus’ friend, Lazarus, had already died. I’m sure old Eeyore, I mean Didymus, was really discouraged now. It was just not logical for them to be there. He was probably not brave enough to say it out loud, but I bet he was thinking, “We risked our lives for this, and the guy’s dead.”
But Jesus brought his disciples there for a reason. Jesus wanted to show Thomas, also called Didymus, the other eleven disciples, and all those close to Lazarus, that our God isn’t always a God of logic. Sometimes when we put too much “reason” into things we lose sight of what faith is all about.
Lucy Hayes, Rutherford B. Hayes’ wife, isn’t remembered for being the first woman to actually be called First Lady. She probably isn’t thought of as the first First Lady to have a bathroom and running water in the White House, or being the first First Lady to use a typewriter, telephone, or phonograph. She’s not remembered for her sympathy to the woman’s suffrage cause, or her drive to make life better for African-Americans.
“Lemonade Lucy,” as she was called after she died, is probably remembered for being a temperance advocate. Yet she never joined any temperance group and she actually opposed prohibition. Lucy was a teetotaler, though. Her husband, Rutherford, and his family, were also teetotalers, but his family would serve alcohol at events.
The Hayes’ first official state dinner, after he became President, was to honor Russian Grand Duke Alexis and Grand Duke Constantine and there was plenty of wine at that event. After that, though, no more alcohol was served at the White House during his term.
Most people have blamed her for the no alcohol policy, but most historians argue that it was actually Rutherford Hayes who ordered a halt to the serving of alcohol. Keep in mind, though, Rutherford once said, “I don’t know how much influence Mrs. Hayes has with Congress, but she has great influence with me.” So we may never truly know whose idea it actually was.
Lucy was a woman of strong character and strong beliefs. She never joined in any protest groups or causes. Lucy didn’t buy into the logic that her involvement in those protest groups would make any difference. Instead, Lucy had faith that her life’s example was the biggest advertisement to change the unjust things she witnessed.
It’s very easy to think the world revolves around logic. It leads us to question why bad things happen to good people. It makes us seek revenge when we are wronged. It causes us to get discouraged when our efforts go unnoticed or get taken advantage of. After all, isn’t fairness just a form of logic?
Sometimes it is very hard to look at the Bible as a book of logic. It calls us to forgive our enemies. It tells us to love those who hate us. It tells us to forgive, forgive again, and then forgive some more. It says, “Blessed are the poor.” On and on it goes with statements that make no logical sense.
But logic is not the reason God gave us for our existence. While logic is great in math and looking both ways before you cross the street, it is not the main rule God asks us to follow. Faith and love always trump logic. God can see us applying those standards when we live the Lemonade Lucy test.
Prayer: Dear Mighty Father, Sometimes I am my own judge on what is fair and what is not. It is only logical that I would know how justice should be dispensed. Forgive me when my pride clouds my vision like that. Let me have more faith in Your ways than my own wisdom and logic. Amen.
