Two Missing Semicolons

One print ad that I helped write was published this morning. To my horror, it has two missing semi-colons!  In their places, I had erroneously typed commas. Shoulda, woulda, coulda!

You are probably laughing at how anyone could be so distraught over two missing inky-dinky semicolons!  

Well, I also laughed when . . .

my friend G, an art director, was furious when her artwork came out on a tarpaulin with a lighter magenta than she specified;

my friend Sallie, an accountant, lost sleep over two centavos overage in her financial report;

my friend Lita, an interior designer, had a photo re-shot because her table was set with a slightly smudged cocktail glass;  

my friend Arnold, a chef, postponed baking his turkey till he found the exact missing herb;

my friend Carla, a TV director, refused to start shooting until the model's stray hair was combed in place.  

People are a finicky lot.  We take our careers so seriously we get upset when we get no less than perfection!

I wish people—and that includes me, especially me—were just as finicky in fighting for what is right and condemning what is wrong in our society.  

We were taught as children that lying is wrong. But when we see our illustrious public officials shamelessly pulling our leg on national TV, we shrug it off.   

We were taught as children that stealing is wrong.  But when we read in newspapers that someone passed off second-hand helicopters as new, we say, “So what else is new?”

We were taught as children that cheating is wrong. But when we hear of massive election fraud, we cry out, “Let's not dig into the past; let's move on.”

Outside of the work we love, we relax our stringent rules. After all, our neck is not on the line. 

Paul, in his ministry among the Gentiles after Christ's death, talks about reconciliation and acceptance. That's why many people latch on to these words as though they take the place of the ten commandments. 

My friend Rye, a graphic artist, but who is as exacting with his art as he is with God's Word, writes about this in his blog.  He said that God's Word (past, present, future) never changes. The Ten Commandments are ten commandments, not requests.   

What a timely grace for me—it jolted me out of my panic over two missing semicolons, and of my apathy over billions of stolen tax payers' money.