Hey Gang: There is an
old country adage that says, “God must
love the poor people of the world because He made so many of them”. As I thought about what I would say to you
his morning the thought entered my dome of intellect that we read throughout
the Word that God loves each and every soul that had breath, is breathing right
now, and will breath life in the future.
But what I do not find is that liked every soul that breathed life.
In my thirty plus years of working with children and
families that had various levels and degrees of problem, I ran in many who were
very unpleasant people. In my tenure in
the juvenile hall business I was cursed out frequently, cussed at and even spit
at a few times. On two occasions
attacked; once, if it was not for a fellow worker, I could have been
killed.
Did it change the way I treated these very unlikeable people?
No, as a matter of fact, it placed a fire in my gizzards to take on the really
foul-mouthed, tough kids as a project.
Why, because they, in many ways looked like me when I was in my growing
years. And I knew, deep in my heart, that I was looking at a soul who had been
beaten into a corner on many occasions and had no one to go into the corner and
pull them up by their bootstraps.
You see, the longer I went into the lion’s den of Juvy Hall
each day, I repeated “Greater Lord are you in me than in all of these fifty
kids behind this wall who would dearly like to defeat you. You are all powerful, so powerful You placed
the stars in the heavens, and placed on this earth all of the magnificence that
we are blessed to see”.
The day I walked into Juvvy I was a flunky on the bottom
rung of the ladder, with extreme lack of chances to becoming more than a
flunky. I confess, I was so green and
had very little understanding about what made these kids tick. God certainly knew that. He also knew my
heart and the depth of concern I had for these directionless kids and He
arranged to change that by placing me in a position where two boys were
fighting and I stepped between them to stop the fight.
One of the boys said, “Now whatcha gunna do, counselor?” Out of my mouth came, “I don’t have a clue,
you have not taught me what you need and how I can help you”. And that is precisely what they did in the
next three years.
The point, I was a flunky in the system, bottom of the
management chart. Above me where
psychologist, psychiatrist, Ph.d’s, Senior this and senior that, but when the
kids needed to pour out their hearts, they would saunter up to me and say Mr. H. “Do ya got a minute?”
Well, I could go on with this point for a day or so, but let
me close with this challenge to you.
There are people all around you who are hurting deep inside and try not
show that hurt but tend to try and hide it.
You don’t have to be a social worker, or a head doctor to see it in
their face. I call it the empty eye
syndrome. Am I saying you should become
a shrink and dig into their world of hurts?
No, but when you are hurting deep inside, a simple friendly, “Hi,” can be
like a laser beam that penetrates straight to the heart.
Let me close this epistle with a story of a lad who had been
pushed into that corner one to many times. The very day he had planned to go to
school one last time, clean out his locker and that night he would end his
life. On his way home from cleaning out
his locker, arms full, he tripped, and his books and personal things went all
over the ground. While collecting the
items, a class mate stopped and help him and walked home with him. The classmate was an out going chap who had
the gift of recognizing a mate who was frazzled and in need of someone to
care. They became friends and a life was
saved.
God loves-- no make that stronger, God likes ordinary people. For
they are the salt in His family. How
about you, has the salt lost its savor in your witness? Did you walk by some today and smile and give
a simple “Hi”? I challenge you to do it
today, even right now, and watch the light go on in their eyes.
You have a blessed day, now hear?
Gramps
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