My cousin, Rachel, and her almost-four-month-old baby spent the weekend with me. We both needed the down time to sleep and laugh and pour out our hearts (something we've been doing since we were 10 and 17). Rachel is one of my kindred spirits who embodies an amazing ability to accept you as you are but not let you walk all over her. It's one of my favorite qualities in her.
As our time together neared it's end, we landed in an extremely emotional discussion about choices and consequences and the human spirit. At one point, my faced scrunched up and I yelled, "Why do we have to be so mean to each other?" She looked at me and said, "We all forget that we're human and don't like the reminder that we all make mistakes."
Think about that one for a minute while I compose myself.
There was a time in my life when I sat in my own ivory tower and passed judgment on those around me. I could spot a sin a mile away and rested in the knowledge that I could point out such flaws in others because I didn't indulge in those behaviors. Although I didn't say it, I frequently thought, "I'll never..."
Real life settled in, and I discovered that my ivory tower was made of cardboard. It's conveniently easy to say, "I'll never" until you're faced with those decisions. Moments build and circumstances sometimes within and sometimes beyond our control join forces. Reason doesn't always triumph emotion. Emotion doesn't always triumph reason. I can sit here and tell you that I would never have an abortion, but you what? I've never been in a situation where I had to make that decision. I'd love to announce that I would never rob a bank. Again, I've not been desperate enough to attempt such a scheme.
So I'm left here with my fury and frustration at the human race. How can we sit back and look at someone in distress, ridicule and berate them, and then justify our actions with a simple, "They made a mistake and deserve the pain"? I just don't get it. It's only by the grace of God that I've not been forced to face more drastic consequences than I have. It's only by the grace of God that I've made it through the consequences I have faced. Who am I to do anything but show that same grace to my fellow man?
As our time together neared it's end, we landed in an extremely emotional discussion about choices and consequences and the human spirit. At one point, my faced scrunched up and I yelled, "Why do we have to be so mean to each other?" She looked at me and said, "We all forget that we're human and don't like the reminder that we all make mistakes."
Think about that one for a minute while I compose myself.
There was a time in my life when I sat in my own ivory tower and passed judgment on those around me. I could spot a sin a mile away and rested in the knowledge that I could point out such flaws in others because I didn't indulge in those behaviors. Although I didn't say it, I frequently thought, "I'll never..."
Real life settled in, and I discovered that my ivory tower was made of cardboard. It's conveniently easy to say, "I'll never" until you're faced with those decisions. Moments build and circumstances sometimes within and sometimes beyond our control join forces. Reason doesn't always triumph emotion. Emotion doesn't always triumph reason. I can sit here and tell you that I would never have an abortion, but you what? I've never been in a situation where I had to make that decision. I'd love to announce that I would never rob a bank. Again, I've not been desperate enough to attempt such a scheme.
So I'm left here with my fury and frustration at the human race. How can we sit back and look at someone in distress, ridicule and berate them, and then justify our actions with a simple, "They made a mistake and deserve the pain"? I just don't get it. It's only by the grace of God that I've not been forced to face more drastic consequences than I have. It's only by the grace of God that I've made it through the consequences I have faced. Who am I to do anything but show that same grace to my fellow man?
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