I've been wondering lately where all the weird people come from. Then I say, "Oh yeah, I'm one of them!" "Where do you live?" "Left field!" Actually it should be "right field" as I'm one of those conservatives! How dare I? It's the weird people that seem to garner all the attention despite their not wanting it. We find ourselves in quandaries of our own making and wonder why all the attention is suddenly put on us. My past is very colorful in both positive and negative ways. Some people may lean on the more "negative ways" while others might weigh in on the "positive ways." It doesn't matter in the end as I'm who I am and without some intervention will find myself in both of those boxes from time to time. Sometimes people need me to be the weird guy. That's okay too. But where did I come from?
Well, I was born really little a long time ago in a Railroad Hospital in Glendive, Montana. On the way home from the hospital (my oldest sister tells me) my dad went around a curve with the truck and my mom (holding me) were thrown out of the truck. We were checked out but okay. Not long after that my oldest sister was walking me in a carriage in town when a car came out of the alley and struck the baby carriage I was riding in. Then I fell out of the back of the pickup in Bismarck, North Dakota when my dad took off from a stop sign. Add to that my walking behind a swing set in our country school (yes, I'm that old) and being struck in the head by the swing. You could say that "things" happen to me. It still happens today! I come from that land of "What's going to happen to Steve now?" It's a strange land but I know it well and am not surprised when something happens outside of the spectrum everyone else seems to live within.
My upbringing wasn't all wonderful. I didn't live with the Walton's (though even John Boy had his problems.) The Cleaver's were so wonderful and "The Beaver" always learned a valuable lesson within 30 minutes. If anyone has knowledge of a mother/wife like June or a husband/father like Ward, let me know. I've not been able to find them anywhere I've been. I had a lady tell me one day that her parents and growing up were perfect. Her parents never argued or fought, never yelled at the kids, no one disobeyed and everything was peachy keen all the time. She was at that time in her late 30's and still believed everything was wonderful. Denial is a funny animal. No one is perfect (at least according to the Bible) though some may think they are or someone they know are perfect. No one I know thinks I'm perfect and would probably snort milk out of their noses if you asked them!
When I look at the 12 Disciples of Jesus there is not one perfect man. Jesus did not select perfect because he knew no one was perfect. All mankind had fallen short of the glory of God. All had sinned and gone astray. There was no one in all the land that was righteous. None. Why should we care where people come from? Jesus didn't. We shouldn't either. Yes, I was a poor farm boy. Yes, I've had my share of problems both brought upon myself as well as inflicted on me. What do people see when they look at me? At you? What do you see? Is all we see is where people come from? If that's true then we missed the point. Jesus chose the 12 knowing their past. HOWEVER, he chose them for who and what they would be in the future. It's the same with you and I. He knows our past better than we know our past. He doesn't care about our past. Why? Because it's in the past. He seeks us out for where we are going and not from where we came.
Next time you come in contact with someone on any level; ask yourself "Where are they going?" What is the mission God has them on? Even the non-believer is going somewhere. Perhaps you're to go along? I don't know. But I do know that none of my past determines where God can take me. AND he will never take me anywhere that he cannot keep me. Sounds like a great travel agent. What does it cost me? What does it cost you? The cost is we can never look back and need to always look forward. Let people wonder where you came from but be drawn to where you are going.
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