IT'S NOT ABOUT ME by Brian Plummer

“Your attitude must be like my own, for I, the Messiah, did not come to be served, but to serve and to give my life.”  Matthew 20:28 (LB)

I had a very disturbing dream many years ago (fifteen? twenty?) that I’ve never forgotten.  I was sitting in the kitchen when a bizarre-looking creature walked up to me:  the creature looked like it was made out of six giant marshmallows—one for a body, one for a head, and four for legs—and it just sat there staring at me with marshmallow eyes.  This creature didn’t appear threatening, but it was so different, so strange, that I reflexively started to attack it; anything that unusual has to be a menace of some sort, doesn’t it?  When I was done kicking and beating it to a pulp, the creature suddenly transformed into the most beautiful little dog I had ever seen, and it gave me the saddest, most heart-breaking expression I had ever beheld.  I woke up feeling guilty, that I had deliberately harmed one of God’s creatures, and ever since, I’ve wondered if that were a warning to me not to discount something “different” just because it’s different.

I never would do such a thing, though, would I?  Surely not grand, educated, enlightened me?  Au contraire.  I have a confession to make:  I’m a big, fat, self-centered jerk.  A couple of years ago, at a North Hills function that will go unidentified, I was approached by a stranger, a woman who looked a bit disheveled and maybe a bit out of sorts.  The first words that came to my mind?  White trash.  God forgive me, but that’s what I thought.  I smiled but sort of half-listened to what she had to say, wondering why she couldn’t get her teeth fixed or brush her hair or whatever.  Later in the evening, this same woman went around to all the North Hillians to thank them for helping her and her family; she even had her children visit each of us individually to thank us.  I went home that night ashamed, remembering the dream from so many years before:  here was one of God’s creations, and I had metaphorically “beaten” her by labeling her and categorizing her as someone who wasn’t like me; that woman, however, proved to be a gracious, thankful person who expressed gratitude and joy—something that I, on the other hand, failed to convey that night, even if only in my thoughts.  I felt like the scum that scrum scrapes off its shoe.

Jesus admonished us to have an attitude that is like His, an attitude that disregards labels, that doesn’t reject based upon appearance, an attitude that says, You may not be like me, but it doesn’t matter—I love and care about you anyway, and I’m here to help.  May God help each of us get out of our self-centeredness and truly strive to live a life of service; may we ask God for a heart of love that erases labels and compels us to serve others, just as our Lord did for us.

B.P.

Think about it:  What are some ways I judge people? Do I allow those prejudices to interfere with being able to serve others?