Ice Cream Trucks

In my second proselyting area there were many ice cream trucks in a small area. It was not uncommon to look down one end of a long street to see an ice cream truck and then to look down the other end to see another operating at the same time. In my current area we do not have so many ice cream trucks, but we do have a more memorable one.

There are two ice cream trucks that I am aware of, to be exact. One is much like every other ice cream truck that I have come across. Imagine an ice cream truck in your mind, and it won't be far from this one. The other is run by a woman from India, and it is, I must say, a very sketchy ice cream truck. It is a regular van, actually. Pictures of ice cream are crudely pasted onto the side of the van, and the passenger seats have been removed to make room for a large cooler. Her approach is heralded by music, as all ice cream trucks are, but she plays Silent Night, Jingle Bells, and other songs.

I am pretty sure that she is playing a single Christmas CD over and over.

It is the music that she plays which strongly convinces me that this woman does not know very much about why ice cream trucks do what they do. She has decided to run her own business, and that is to be lauded, and for some peculiar reason she has decided to sell ice cream. Unfortunately, the extent of her research seems to have been looking at ice cream trucks already in operation and copying what they do without understanding the principles behind these actions.

Similarly, when we act without understanding, we can look just as ridiculous as this ice cream truck lady. Of more concern is that we can at times be ineffective, sometimes to the point of actually hindering our purpose. There may be someone who is concerned about the quality of the ice cream, because of the appearance of her truck, and so does not buy (I myself must say that the ice cream is just as good as anyone else's, however), just as we may not always get the result that we want when we do not know how it will get us that result.

It also makes it difficult to not sacrifice the spirit of the law when we do not know what the spirit, or principle, is. Without understanding the principle, we cannot adapt to changing circumstances.