Set Your Sights On Things Above
We so quickly get our eyes off God. Let's get back into
perspective.
perspective.
10/7/2013
Through the Looking GlassMy daughter was at work today and had an interesting experience. She was parked outside the apartment complex where she was babysitting, getting ready to leave. Her truck had a minor mechanical issue - which to me means call out the national guard because I have no idea how to fix those - but to my daughter it was really no big deal. She could fix it, it would just take a couple seconds. In the meantime, someone else drove up behind her, and pulled halfway to the curb, obviously with the intent of taking her parking space as she was vacating it. Now remember, this was basic public parking along the street's sidewalk - not the parking lot for the building. So the following was in no way caused by my daughter being in the wrong spot - because she wasn't. And it's not like there weren't other spaces around them open, because there were. The guy in the truck behind her was obviously not happy, and was gesturing to her to move, even as she was getting out of her truck to fix her minor little issue. She told the guy, it's having a problem I have to fix. My daughter had to get out, tighten the connection to the battery, and then get back in to the truck to see if it would start. She had to do this four times before it would start. Remember, she's allowed to be in this parking space. It's a public road. There were at least two car spaces ahead of her...at least one car space behind her. At first the guy was alright with her dilemma (how nice of him), but as she kept having to go back and forth his impatience grew. The guy simply thought of her as being in his way. Eventually he decided he may as well just park behind her, and in the meantime flipped her off. I mean really? A young girl in front of an apartment, having mechanical issues, and he flips her off for being in his way? Of course, just as he shuts his truck off after having parked, my daughter's truck started and she drove off. How much time had passed? Maybe two or three minutes? The guy's patience wore out in just two or three minutes - five tops if you allow for my daughter not having a good judgment of time passage. I grant that maybe he'd had a really bad day. It was Monday after all. I grant that he may be going through some things that none of the rest of us can even imagine going through. Who knows? But really? Has society gotten to the point where a lady can be in distress and the guy around her flips her off for being stuck in his way? Maybe the question should be asked of us all.... Where are we in this society? We might not flip someone off when they get in our way, but do we help them? Do we sit by and watch while someone is having a 'minor mechanical error'? Do we inconvenience ourselves to make someone's life easier? Do we go out of our way to help a friend? Do we go out of our way to help an enemy? Life is full of stress, and stress distorts - like a face shoved up against a glass door. Like this picture: You have to work hard to see the real person in that picture. She's there, but could you pick her out of a police line-up just going on this picture? No, I'd say you probably couldn't.
Stress in our lives smashes our face up against glass. It distorts if we let it. Giving in to it makes us do things that we never thought we would have done. I dare say that if that guy had a daughter he'd expect other people to treat her with more kindness than he treated my daughter. I dare say that at some point he'll be embarrassed over his behavior today, maybe even remorseful. Do I really know it's stress that made this guy act like that? No. Maybe he's just a mean person. I don't know. But we can take a lesson from it. We don't have to let our faces smash up against a glass. We don't have to give in to things that distort us. We can take a step back and let God take over. We can live our life in kindness. Be as nice as you know how - in every way you know - to everyone you know. |
AuthorI'm Sherry Chamblee, aspiring author of Christian fiction, mom of six, wife to a cool dude, and caregiver to his granny. Besides that, I am just little old me - it's just a phrase, I'm not really old, honest. Check out my new release!
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