Crazy

It's not that she was completely crazy. Actually, she was quite functional in her life. But it was clear to everyone (except for her, of course) that she needed her meds just a little more than the rest of us need ours.

So I wasn't surprised one afternoon as I was walking by her house when she flagged me down to share something that didn't seem completely right to me.

"Pastor! The street lights! They're really really bright now! I mean, I sit out on my steps every night but last night I could hardly stand it when the traffic light changed from green to yellow and red and back to green. And the crosswalk signs, too. I mean, they're all just so bright!"

She was a bit panicked and needed some assurance that the world wasn't coming to an end. After our chat she seemed to feel better but wasn't completely satisfied. I moved along in my day and soon forgot about the conversation.

But when I was out walking in the dark I remembered it. I noticed that the lights WERE brighter. A LOT brighter! And not just the ones by her house but on every street corner in the neighborhood. And no one else out that night seemed to notice, much less be bothered by it.

The 11:00 newscast rescued both of us from our distress. We learned that the city had started at our end of town in converting all the stoplights from incandescent to LED in hopes of saving energy. Our peace was restored.

Just like what happened with that morning's conversation, it's easy for me to not really remember what people say when they think a little differently than I do. I can consciously or subconsciously dismiss what someone says based on gender, education, race, culture, IQ, theology, socioeconomic standing, and a myriad of other "qualifiers" that are wired into my brain.

When I can recognize this, I need to have a bright yellow or flashing red light come on at the intersection of my synapses. I'm not saying that all expressed thoughts and ideas are equally valid; I just need to make sure I don't dismiss them because the speaker seems a little crazy to me. There may be some truth in there that I have yet to see.

Because that's what the folks did to people like Isaiah and Jeremiah. Both of these men came across to others as basically functional but in need of some meds. Yet, they were the ones who saw the bright new Light before the rest did. But instead of listening, the people had to take a walk in the darkness before they remembered what these men had tried to tell them.

I wonder what God is trying to reveal to me today and if I am unwilling to hear it just because of who He is using to convey it. I hope I can see His brightness before I need an 11th hour rescue to have my peace restored.

Lord, help me to be open to your Truth. Remove my blinders that I might see You.