You Can’t Roller Skate in a Buffalo Herd
The late country star, Roger Miller sang a song titled, “You Can’t Roller Skate in a Buffalo Herd”. The song is a silly, yet poignant proclamation that happiness is a choice. A portion of the lyrics are:
“You can’t roller skate in a buffalo herd.
You can’t roller skate in a buffalo herd.
You can’t roller skate in a buffalo herd, but you can be happy if you’ve a mind to.”
It goes on to express all these crazy things that you can’t do (like drive around with a tiger in your car; swim in a baseball pool; or take a shower in a parakeet cage) while repeatedly driving the point home that you can be happy, “if you’ve a mind to.”
By no means do I intend to tout Roger Miller as a theologian. However, I will concede that he is on to something with this silly limerick. We often get distracted from what we can do by stressing about what we cannot. In fact, one of the most revered coaches of all times, John Wooden, used this principle as one of his foundational truths for a successful team. He frequently impressed upon his teams to: “Never let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do!” Those that embrace this concept find themselves free from the entanglements of confusion and despair and are filled with immense joy and peace. Fear is replaced with confidence and uncertainty is eradicated by clear purpose.
Jesus spoke in a similar way in the gospel of John.
“I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by Himself; He can only do what He sees the Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” (John 5:19)
“For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent Me commanded Me what to say and how to say it.” (John 12:49)
“but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what My Father has commanded Me.” (John 14:31)
Jesus was not limited by ability, but by authority and relationship with His Father. But He understood what He could do and what He could not do. He did what He was commanded and that was it. We are limited by authority and ability, yet there is much we can do and are commanded to do. It can be very intimidating and scary to express the reason for the hope you have (1 Peter 3:15) to your neighbors, friends, and co-workers. There is much we don’t know or understand. There is fear in our hearts that we will fall short with our words and be incapable of providing all the answers to the questions that are asked. So maybe you can’t roller skate in a buffalo herd, but you can reflect the joy of the Lord. Perhaps a shower in a parakeet cage isn’t going to happen today, but you can pray. The boy in John 6 only had a small meal. It would have been easy to keep it to himself thinking that he did not have enough to offer when so many needed to eat. He gave what he had and left the rest to Jesus.
“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and self-discipline.” 2 Timothy 1:7
Praiseallujiah!
Jon
