Simon saves everything of
importance. He has receipts that date back
15 years. He recently invested in a NEAT
scanner because the thermal paper used at most businesses to print receipts
begins to disappear after a few months, sometimes a few months.
He doesn’t believe in New
Year’s Resolutions but tried each year to set goals he believed were
attainable. Like many of his friends he
didn’t bother to write them down because he had a memory like an elephant, the
only problem was that by the end of the first quarter of the New Year he always
found himself overwhelmed with projects that trumped his goals and so his goals
were put on the back burner. Why? Simon
came from a huge needy family and he had not yet learned to say “no” to their
numerous requests. Now don’t get it
twisted, he wasn’t a punk or a sucker, his family just had a lot of needs. This pattern had repeated itself for decades
but this year, he decided was going to be different. Twenty Fourteen was a year of growth and
prosperity, not necessarily financially because there was no lack in that area,
but emotionally and spiritually, because he had to fight for what he wanted and
each victory yielded more confidence and determination. After what seemed like an eternity, he
finally found his footing and had embraced his new normal though it still
didn’t fit quite right. His new normal
reminded him of a brand new pair of tennis that he had to break in, but once
they were broken in, they were just right, custom fit to his mildly deformed
feet. That’s a whole other story we
don’t have time for.
As he meditated on the
battles and victories of 2014 he decided that 2015 was going to be a year of rest as defined by the biblical
meaning of 15. Not
helping people wasn’t an option because he was certain that he had been blessed
with the gift of helping others as
described in a passage from his favorite book:
Here are some of the parts God has appointed for
the church: first are apostles, second are prophets, third are teachers, then
those who do miracles, those who have the gift of healing,
those who can help others, those who have the
gift of leadership, those who speak in unknown languages. 1 Corinthians 12:28 (NLT)
He was clear that he was operating
in his lane, he just had to get better at prioritizing the help and creating
healthy boundaries to avoid burnout. He
knew it would probably ruffle some feathers so when and if it did he would be
prepared with a good sound response and plan of action.
I know you might be
thinking that I’m rambling, but I assure you I am not. If you will recall, I stated earlier that
Simon saves and/or keeps track of everything.
He even has lists which contain the names, dates and type of help he
gives each year. I’m not playing. He created an excel spreadsheet to automate
his list and make it easily accessible. He
can sort by: name; date; frequency; help type – financial, emotional, physical,
and spiritual, etc. complete with a pie chart that aided him in determining
whether or not he should offer any additional help to the individual(s) for the
quarter or year.
That’s a little special,
but what is even more baffling is his offense list. Yes, I said offense list. Initially he kept a mental list but came up
with the ingenious idea to model his “help list” thus creating an offense
list. Very few people know it but he
keeps a list of offenses that he believes have been levied against him. He’s so “gangsta” with it that when someone
offends him – wait, let me rephrase that because being offended is a choice -- when
he accepts an offense from someone, the offender won’t really know that he is
angry because he rarely shows emotion.
Instead, he edits his offense list and waits for the perfect time to get
even and you better trust, he is going to get you back even if it takes years. He is not two-faced at all, he is very
calculating and unassuming. He will
continue to oblige you, engage in conversations, share a meal, sit next to you
in church, at the club, etc. but Simon is studying his offender, collecting
information and calculating his next move.
Yes, of course Simon is a
believer, he’s been “in the church” for decades! His great uncle Ben was the founder of the
church, he is a bible scholar, tither, has held every position you can think of
and one of his responsibilities is a senior counselor which exposes him to
sensitive information about people who seek their counsel. I’m not saying that he has or currently
usurps his position to obtain inflammatory information that can be used later
against someone that has crossed him, excuse me, whom he believes offended him
or whatever you wanna call it, I’m just saying there have been several
coincidental discoveries made, revealed and used against his offenders.
Now I’m not judging him, I
work very hard today not to judge peoples, but, I am a pretty good fruit
inspector, so the challenge I have with this behavior is that it is completely
un-biblical. How? I’m so glad you asked. I found several passages from my favorite
book that can substantiate my concerns.
Listen to this:
If I could speak all the languages of
earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a
clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of
God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I
could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and
even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I
would have gained nothing. Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or
boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable,
and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice
but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses
faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. 1 Corinthians 13: 1-7 (NLT)
I’m out of time for now,
let’s pick it up later
Because of His Favor
Tania Not Tanya
No comments:
Post a Comment