The Top Ten Things that Gimme Shelter

The Late Show Top Ten List is a regular segment on "Late Show with David Letterman." The lists are usually given humorous topics, such as "Top Ten Signs Your Kid Had A Bad First Day At School," or some other twist, such as altering the nature of the list or a reading by a guest presenter, is used in the presentation.

So if David Letterman can have his Top Ten, why not God's Chemistry Set? Well a real good reason would be we are not that funny. David Letterman has a whole team of writers whose jobs are to make his show humorous and entertaining. Here we just have a chemist/pharmacist who is not known for his ability to tell jokes (or write blogs for that matter!). But why not give it a try? What have we got to lose?

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"If a man is lazy, the rafters sag;
if his hands are idle, the house leaks."
Ecclesiastes 10:18 (NIV)

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Our list is intended to be more factual than funny. There is a little bit of chemistry (or other) truth embedded in each of the ten entries in the list. If I can interject a smidgin of humor I will. Hope you learn a little and laugh a little with this blog. So here goes:

The Top Ten Things That Gimme Shelter (building a structure in the physical)

10) Ice (water) - Igloos - For the Eskimos. Will the houses melt with Global Warming?
9) Fabric (cotton) - Tents - For the Nomad or the Adventurous Wanderer, made with canvas or animal skins. Sometimes they end up blowing in the wind.
8) Glass (silicone dioxide) - For the people that don't throw stones. Lets hope their neighbors don't throw stones either.
7) Straw (cellulose) - Grass huts - In the bush or grasslands. Mice like to make them home as well.
6) Sticks (cellulose) - Wood or brush, thatch roofs. Susceptible to fires.
5) Brick - Cast mud or clay. If not hardened with fire, can wash away in the rain.

The last three were famously recorded in "The Three Little Pigs," an English fairy tale published in The Nursery Rhymes of England (London and New York, c.1886), by James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps.

"Little pig, little pig, let me come in." (said the big bad wolf)
"No, no, not by the hair on my chinny chin chin." (replied the little pig)
"Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in." (and the wolf did - destroying the houses of straw and sticks)

And of course only the brick house could stand and save the three little pigs from the big bad wolf.

4) Rock - River rock, quarried stone. A tough move from the river to the homestead.
3) Cement (calcium silicates or sulfates) - Concrete, poured or as block, plaster.
2) Lumber (cellulose) - One of the more common constructions today, used to frame the house. Could be used for a log cabin as well.
1) Metal (iron) - Steel, sheet metal, rebar, fixtures, plumbing. Can also be aluminum, copper or other metals.

The Foundation of Life
So what does "Shelter" mean? It is a covering or barrier from the elements - rain, wind, sun as we have listed above, or it could be protection from or help through the physical, emotional and spiritual struggles of everyday life. All of us have burdens in life at some time and from some source outside of ourselves. These could be due to our past, our upbringing or our own failures or physical limitations.

The Rolling Stones sang about shelter back in 1969.
Gimme Shelter - The opening track on the band's album "Let It Bleed."

Oh, a storm is threat'ning
My very life today
If I don't get some shelter
Oh yeah, I'm gonna fade away

The Rolling Stones were singing about the storms of life they saw in 1969. They sang about more than just a physical storm, singing instead about War, Rape, Murder - the difficulties of that day, and our days as well, and the hope of love to calm these storms. But they equated love with a kiss, a physical solution to a deeper problem. The love we need is not a physical action but a Spiritual One - the Love of God. He will comfort us through the storms in our lives. We just need to let Him - Psalm 46:10a (NIV) "Be still, and know that I am God;"

The Love of God is the one and only item we need on our spiritual list of "The Top Ten Things That Gimme Shelter."

Matthew 7:24-27 (NIV) - Jesus said: "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. ²⁶ But everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."

Here Jesus was talking about His admonition to not judge others, or you too will be judged (Matthew 7:1) and to do to others what you would have them do to you (Matthew 7:12). He tells us we need to search Him out and know Him. We will have storms in our lives, no matter what we do. We need to build the foundation of our lives on the rock. Jesus is our Rock!

Hebrews 3:4 (NIV) For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything.