Thinking Out Loud, Volume CDLIII

My brother in law made a mistake, and it caused what he had to do to be a much more difficult task. His idea was great, though. He was thinking since his home is surrounded by significant acreage of pastureland, he should get a calf, feed it and let it graze in his pasture for a couple years, then slaughter it and fill his freezer with fresh beef. It was a smart move, except for one small detail: He gave his calf a name. He admitted to me that he shouldn't have done that, even though he named it Ribeye, because there's something about a name that makes it become much more personal. I remember one episode of "The Andy Griffith Show" when all the guys of Mayberry were were trying to catch a certain big, elusive fish that everyone referred to as Ole Sam. Then one day, on his first fishing trip, Howard Sprague caught him. At first they were all excited, but then the excitement turn to sadness when they all realized Ole Sam was gone. There was just something about the fact that he was a creature for which everyone had a fondness, and even called him by name, that made it personal. It was a relief to everyone in town when they found out Howard had thrown him back. In reading a book I've mentioned to you before, "Love Does," by Bob Goff, I was reminded of these stories, and I would like to share the idea that came to me from reading one particular chapter in his book. For some reason, we humans are sometimes quick to make derogatory remarks, and even poke fun of people who are different from us. We do it with people of different races, homosexuals, those who are extremely obese, folks from other religions, special needs people, etc. We make comments without stopping to consider how hurtful our careless words can be to those individuals. Here's the idea: We should try to become friends with at least one person from each of these groups. That should not be too difficult when we consider our coworkers, neighbors, the employees at the super market, and fellow church members. Then, when we want to make snide remarks about any of those groups, include the name of our friend from that group in our comments. For example, if we have a friend named Lucy Smith, who is obese, we should include her name every time we make fun of people with obesity issues. That makes it personal. As a matter of fact, why don't we try one more thing when we do that. If I want to make what could be a hurtful remark about those who are obese, not only should I include Lucy Smith's name, but I should also tell Lucy what I said. If I'm not comfortable telling her what I said, maybe I shouldn't say it at all. Do you catch my drift? There's just something about adding the name of a real person, someone we might could even call a friend, that makes it personal, and might even help us in breaking the habit of being so judgmental of those who are different from us. After all, when we stop to think about it, we're different from them as well, and they have just as much right to make fun of us as we have to make fun of them. If we feel we just have to be critical, let's name our criticism after a friend. That should make slaughtering their character a much more difficult task. Preston Sent from my iPad