read the fine print

i spent a LOT of time in the car today, driving to far northern IL, back to the near southwest suburbs, further south to the far South Side, and then back West to the homestead. mid-afternoon precipitation coupled with neverending orange barrels. stretched the commuting time longer than i'd like to remember. but, the Traffic Cloud ALWAYS has a silver-lining because it provides space for me to do one of my favorite pasttimes, one which i've visted in this blog before--car thinking.

i started thinking about the topic of lack-of- grace--tied into judgement--tied into labeling--tied into hardened hearts--tied into people write offs....and doing some self-reflection. ok, so i know that probably doesn't make a lot of sense and the threads probably don't seem like they tie, but let me explain.

i am one of those [rare] people that doesnt see the world thru black-and-white, and through life experience and spiritual discernment (thanks be to God), i also don't see ppl in black-and-white either. nothing happens in a vacuum, and most things that ppl do/issues that they are going thru stem back to something else...something deeper that many of us, no matter how [dis] connected we are with the person--may understand. i was only able to get to that level of understanding once i myself came to terms with the root cause of many of the issues that used to plague me: low self-esteem, insecurity, unforgiveness, etc--and dealt with them. i am so blessed and thankful to have that understanding and also to have the memory of the hard road that it took to get there.

i thought about the issue of judgement...something that i myself have been guilty of, and still am from time to time, guilty of (and get convicted of by the HS). i thought about how my frustration and/or anger about or towards a circumstance or an individual have caused me sometimes to judge them/ it, to label them/it, and to ultimately write them/it off. i thought about how harshly i've been judged by others along the way. and i also thought about how harshly i have judged MYSELF.

i was listening to a radio show today and a Marian Priest was being interviewed. he was a former drug/sex addict and had lived that lifestyle for over 20 years until an encounter with God--in rehab--caused a spiritual conversion in his life. he committed his life to the Lord and ultimately to full-time Christian vocation as a priest. all his life he had been labeled:

drug addict.
whoremonger.
ex-con.
child of hedonistic parents.
crazy hippie.

yet God had SOO much more for him to do. and it took 20+ years, and the conversion of his own parents two years earlier than his own, for him to see the light. and now he travels the country telling his story in the hopes of inspiring others that they too can be set free and live a life of love and service to God.

this man was labeled. judged. and probably still, even as an ordained Priest, deals with doubts about his qualifications to spread the Gospel. but who better to serve as an example of the redemption of JC than someone who is likened to a modern-day Paul!!

as i've stated before and will continue to say--all of us are daily fighting some sort of battle--some that we may share and some that we may be too embarassed or ashamed to share even with those that are closest to us. some of us are yet fighting battles that we don't even know are there! the labels we attach to ourselves, to others--and that others attach to us--can cause a great deal of harm, if we allow them to.

i thank God for memory, and i pray daily that i never get to the point where i think that i've gotten it all figured out, and i forget where i came from. i thank Him for grace and for saving my butt more times that i can count, and for someone praying for me along the way that i didnt even know.

and, when i get ready to stick a label or someone or something, i ask that He always remind me to...

..read the fine print.