Lump of coal

It was cold out. I'd been inside all day and so had the mutts. Denny said I should take Sketch for a walk. He was restless. After a little while I decided Denny was right. So I bundled up and took Sketch, all bouncy and excited, for a stroll around the block. As we were turning onto Overlook there was a man coming toward us and as usual Sketch yapped at him. I smiled and said "Sorry" and then shushed Sketch. As the man passed us he said with a nasty tone "You should be sorry."

It was so mean the way he said it. I felt like a child who had been scolded by a bully teacher. I wanted to say something back but tried to take the high road and retorted "God Bless you!".

I'm sure that was effective.

The next part of my journey was all about the cognitive dissonance in my head. I thought of all the things I could have said. I tried to tell myself he'd had a bad day and after all, Sketch probably did startle him. Still. He didn't have to be MEAN. I had apologized. I had smiled at him. I told Sketch to stop. But, like I said, his comment yanked me back to childhood. I was mad that I was 36 feeling like I was 9.

Then I heard a small voice. It said "Give it to me".

I'm getting better at recognizing my Heavenly Father's voice. And that was it. In my spirit I ran to him and said that I wanted to let it go, I knew I was being ridiculous. But he was mean to me and I didn't deserve it! (boohoohoo!)...

"Give it to me," He said again.

So I stopped my blubbering and relaxed. I let go and had this image of the words the man had said being taken from my head in a little stream of smoke (pardon the sacrelidge, but if you're familiar with how Dumbledore removed his memories for the pensieve in Harry Potter, it was kind of like that). The words left from the right side of my head.



A moment later I had an image to my left side of a hand giving me a very large jewel...A diamond or a crystal...A beautiful, clear jewel that had been formed out of that lump of darkness. I was so taken by it that I forgot all about what the man had said. I forgot how dumb I'd felt and I forgot about beating myself up for letting it hurt me as it had. I marveled at how God is willing to help us with even the most insignificant of things. Somewhere I even found the words to bless the mean walking man.



Yeah. My God is way cooler than any other...He makes jewelry out of junk!

Comments

Melanie Price said…
OMG, I thought that I was the only one who cried when someone flipped me off in traffic! I can analyze it for a day and it really hurts my feelings sooo much, way too much. So, I am glad I am not alone. It must be a childhood issue coming out? Well done, though.
3:59 PM
Joules Evans said…
And the mean walking man had no idea he was being used by God to make you shiny and pretty like that diamond.
4:20 AM
Jenny said…
Someone told me to slow down in a parking lot the other day and called me a nasty name because she was mad she didn't see me coming around the corner. I wasn't speeding, mom and Kelly are my witnesses. Cool pictures though. I hope I find a diamond that big. :D
8:36 PM
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