I do not like to complain (except on certain occasions when nobody is listening) but I am not too happy with the weather these days. I have never felt so cold before.

Is it true that the older you get, the less cold temperature you can stand?

If it is not true, it sure is true with me. The older I get, the colder I get and there is absolutely nothing I can do about it. After all, how many sweaters can you wear at one time?

The other day as I looked at my thermometer I saw it had dipped below my meteorological expectation. I tried breathing on the thermometer to see if I could get the temperature to rise a little bit. And, because I have such hot breath, I was able to raise the temperature quite a bit, but as soon as I stop breathing, it plunged back to its depth.

It seems that when I look at the thermometer and the temperature is low I feel cold. On the other hand, when the temperature is high, I feel warm. I almost said hot, but the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage corrected me on that once. I may feel hot, but, according to her, I sure do not look hot and the mirror in my bathroom collaborates with her opinion.

So, I am wondering if the temperature has anything to do with my thermometer. If someone, perchance, could manipulate my thermometer they could manipulate whether I am hot or cold.

Then a thought hit me square in the face.

All during last year, I heard how the Russians allegedly hacked into emails. I never really paid that much attention to the stories, but now, I am thinking a little bit different about that.

Anybody who wants to can hack into my emails because I have such a boring life that they probably would shoot themselves. However, what if they were able to hack into my thermometer? That is the $64,000 question!

I confess that I am not very savvy when it comes to technology. I can barely manage my emails; so, when it comes to technology I am as vulnerable as anybody else.

I am certainly not afraid of somebody hacking into my banking account because they would find it completely empty. Thinking about that, maybe somebody is hacking into my banking account and taking out all my money. If somebody is, I do not imagine it is I. Maybe I should have a talk with my banker just to see if anything fishy is going on.

A couple of weeks ago when my wife wanted to use her bank credit card it was declined. She contacted her bank and found out someone did hack into her account and bought something for $2500 out on the West Coast.

What bothered me was, I did not know she had that much money in her account. Maybe I ought to look into what it takes to hack into somebody’s banking account!

Anyway, the bank took care of it and she was not on the hook for that money.

This only proves if anybody wants to hack into somebody’s bank account, they would pick her over me for certain.

However, what if these Russians, or whoever they are, are able to hack into my thermometer? What if they are able to hack in and manipulate my thermometer to make it look colder than it really is?

If this is true, where do I go to report it?

What sorry soul would do something like this?

This has been worrying me for over a week now and I am as chilly today as I was when I first started worrying about this. Why can’t they hack into my thermometer and raise the temperature so that I feel warmer?

Out of deep frustration, I presented my theory to my wife, hoping she would have a little bit of sympathy for me.

“Are you,” she said sarcastically, “really that crazy? Why in the world would you ever think that somebody could hack into your thermometer?” Then she threw one of her sarcastic smiles at me and went back to the kitchen.

I was still in my chair thinking about all that. What if I am crazy? Is that so bad? From my point of view, crazy people are the only people that do not know they are crazy. Maybe I really am crazy. But if I am crazy, to paraphrase one old philosopher, I am in good company. Those crazy people really make a difference in this world.

Think of Thomas Edison when he told someone he was going to invent the electric light bulb. I wonder how many people thought he was crazy?

Can you imagine what his wife must have said? “Oh, Tommy, what in the world does anybody want with an electric light bulb? That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard.”

If Thomas Edison was crazy, I sure am happy to join his ranks. And there are other crazy people all through history.

My problem, like many people, I judge things by their appearance, and, as we all know, appearances can be deceiving.

I think a good word from Jesus helps me out here. “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment” (John 7:24).

Appearances can be deceiving because sometimes what I am looking at is not exactly what I am seeing.