Thinking Out Loud, Volume CDXIV

After all the years of marriage, there was one thing she really wanted from her husband that he didn't provide. No, she wasn't the type to demand gifts or special weekends in a resort area....what she wanted was very simple...just a few short words. Finally she decided to tell him what she wanted. "You never say 'I love you,'" she said. He replied, "I told you that forty-five years ago when we got married. If it ever changes, I'll let you know." What he was failing to realize is that, as humans, there are a few things of which we need to be constantly reminded. In addition to hearing a loved one telling us we are loved, there is another area where those constant reminders are in order. That's what I want to talk about today. First, let me tell you about when I first learned this news of which I need to be reminded. When I first started getting past all of the basic, general education classes in college, and began the courses that pertained to my major, there were three guys who seemed to be in most all of my classes. Their names were Larry, Kenneth, and Fred. They were the most vocal in all the class discussions, and right away I determined that they were talking way above my head. Most of the time, I didn't have a clue what they were talking about, and I began to wonder if by taking that class, maybe I had bit off more than I could chew. My test scores, however, seemed to hold up okay, and at the end of the semester, it was with apprehensive optimism that I looked up my grade when the professor posted them on the wall. I made a B. I could live with that. And then, out of curiosity, I checked Larry, Kenneth, and Fred's grades. All three of them made a C. I figured out that I was doing better than the guys who sounded so smart. Then came the next semester and I had a class with those same three guys again, where the same process repeated itself, with me feeling like a dummy listening to those intelligent sounding discussions. In that class, I ended up with an A, while one of the three brainiacs had a B, and the other two had Cs again....a reminder that I was better than I thought. It was more than twenty years ago when a minister came to our church and asked us to grade ourselves as to our Christianity. I thought about his question and thought about what a flawed individual I am, and that led me to conclude that I was somewhere between a C- or a D+. Later that day a group of us were sitting in a restaurant discussing that sermon, and we all had given ourselves similar grades, but in his message he had told us that we're probably better than we think, because God understands that perfection is out of our reach. None of us are perfect and we never will be. Sometimes when I take a look at myself, all I can see are the flaws, but that's not how most other people view me....and it's not how God views me. There's only one person who's ever been perfect, and neither you nor I are that person. Anyone who expects perfection from anyone else is not being fair to that individual, and all he's doing is making that person feel more uncomfortable and intimidated. Sometimes we have a tendency to be critical of those whose sins are different from ours, but when we do, we're opening ourselves to the same type of criticism from them. What I'm saying today is in no way a license to live just any old way we want. Striving for perfection is a task we must always pursue, yet it's a goal we'll never reach. Like most things in life, it's all about attitude. Chances are, you and I are in better shape than we think, although it's a fact that we tend to forget sometimes. Let's keep reminding each other. Preston. Sent from my iPad