God I really hope You're at the wheel because I know I'm not!
And if I were, I'd be too impaired to get anywhere anyway.
Life is crazier than usual these days, which is to say it's pretty crazy. I find myself asking God almost suspiciously, "hey... are you taking me to such-and-such a place?" And sometimes they can be places that I like. And sometimes they can be places that I'd rather not visit. And sometimes they can be places that make me chuckle with the absurdity of the idea. It's a good thing I don't take the underground to work - random guys laughing at nothing on the transit system tends to creep people out!
But He doesn't always tell where the destination is. I would be tempted to figure out how to get there if He did. But I'm not at the wheel. He is the driver; He is the navigator; He is the fuel. I am the car.
Some of my coworkers think that my whole attitude towards the possibility (or probability) of being out of work this year is a bit cavalier. But I'm not apathetic or blasé; I just have the knowledge that the place where God would have me be is a better place to be. Wherever it is, I'm certain it will be a fantastic adventure. For how amazing it is to see God at work in other people, though you will only ever see the tip of the iceberg there. How much more amazing is it to experience Him yourself! Is there any adventure more exciting than seeing God at work in your life, even when you don't know where you're going?
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Thursday, January 18, 2007
I'd say you've lost your mind, but you've always been like this
Yesterday morning when I walked into work, my coworker stopped doing whatever he was doing and started looking at me intently. Very intently.
"What?"
"Oh," he started almost guiltily. "Nothing..."
I cocked an eyebrow at him for a moment then turned to get down to work. He was still scrutinizing me. It seemed pretty clear to me that he wanted to ask me something I wouldn't like and was deciding how to put it.
He laughed awkwardly. "No... I was just trying to size you up... I'm trying to convince my girlfriend to introduce her friend to you."
My fingers paused on the keyboard. What?! It was as good of a question as any so I repeated it. I turned, looking incredulous. "What?" Then I thought of another question. "Why?"
He laughed awkwardly again. Why on earth was he off balance? "I don't know... I thought you guys might be a good match..."
"Oh...? And why is that?"
"Well, I dunno... I mean, she's single, you're single; she's white, you're white..."
"... Are you serious?" Now might have been a good time to remind him that my sister in law is Japanese. It occurred to me to let him know I wasn't interested in her for sure if she didn't believe in God. But it also occurred to me that he wouldn't understand or believe me. Instead, "If those are the only reasons, why me? Why not J?"
"Well you're a pretty stand-up guy. My girlfriend doesn't want her to get disappointed."
Blink
"I don't suppose anyone is concerned that I would be disappointed?"
"Well come on, you're a guy - you can't get disappointed."
This puts me in mind for something very romantic to tell some girl someday. Hey, I know I'm a guy so I don't have a very discriminating taste, and I'd be happy with just about anybody... But in my opinion, you're all right! And if that doesn't burn her barn, I'd then hit her with a rousing, Yaaar matey!
"What?"
"Oh," he started almost guiltily. "Nothing..."
I cocked an eyebrow at him for a moment then turned to get down to work. He was still scrutinizing me. It seemed pretty clear to me that he wanted to ask me something I wouldn't like and was deciding how to put it.
He laughed awkwardly. "No... I was just trying to size you up... I'm trying to convince my girlfriend to introduce her friend to you."
My fingers paused on the keyboard. What?! It was as good of a question as any so I repeated it. I turned, looking incredulous. "What?" Then I thought of another question. "Why?"
He laughed awkwardly again. Why on earth was he off balance? "I don't know... I thought you guys might be a good match..."
"Oh...? And why is that?"
"Well, I dunno... I mean, she's single, you're single; she's white, you're white..."
"... Are you serious?" Now might have been a good time to remind him that my sister in law is Japanese. It occurred to me to let him know I wasn't interested in her for sure if she didn't believe in God. But it also occurred to me that he wouldn't understand or believe me. Instead, "If those are the only reasons, why me? Why not J?"
"Well you're a pretty stand-up guy. My girlfriend doesn't want her to get disappointed."
Blink
"I don't suppose anyone is concerned that I would be disappointed?"
"Well come on, you're a guy - you can't get disappointed."
This puts me in mind for something very romantic to tell some girl someday. Hey, I know I'm a guy so I don't have a very discriminating taste, and I'd be happy with just about anybody... But in my opinion, you're all right! And if that doesn't burn her barn, I'd then hit her with a rousing, Yaaar matey!
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
A good reason not to wear a watch
I got home late tonight - lost track of the time.
Sometimes, you need to just sit back in the moment and forget about schedules, forget about things you have to get done this week, forget about what time you have to get up in the morning. I think that if you're going to truly fellowship with people, that's something you need to do. This is why I think that for the time being, I'll forget about getting a new watch and continue walking around not knowing the time of day.
There is a God, and He has an interest in what I do with my life. He demonstrated to me today that He's listening to me. Remember what you said to Me yesterday? Do you still mean it today? Be prepared to prove you mean what you say, because He just might ask you to do so.
Sometimes, you need to just sit back in the moment and forget about schedules, forget about things you have to get done this week, forget about what time you have to get up in the morning. I think that if you're going to truly fellowship with people, that's something you need to do. This is why I think that for the time being, I'll forget about getting a new watch and continue walking around not knowing the time of day.
There is a God, and He has an interest in what I do with my life. He demonstrated to me today that He's listening to me. Remember what you said to Me yesterday? Do you still mean it today? Be prepared to prove you mean what you say, because He just might ask you to do so.
The problem with big churches
The problem with big churches... is that they're so big.
And as it happens, the church around which I've hung with increasing frequency over the past four and a half years is pretty sizable. One could almost say largish. And for three of those years (two of which I was a student, only part of the time in the city - thus justifying in my mind having a 'drive-through' approach to church) I couldn't really say that I knew anyone there. If you were trying to spot me, it wouldn't be hard. Just look for an area where there was a pocket of empty seats, and I'd be sitting in the middle of it.
You see, I have that look. You know the one that people put on when they're riding on the coach alone and don't want someone sitting beside them in their personal space? I do it without thinking or trying. Some people hide behind sarcasm or silliness; some behind styles of clothing or language. Some people hide more overtly under their blankets in bed or under a pile of work at the office; some under hats or behind dark glasses. I hide by being aloof.
We are creatures of habit and by habit, we tend to slip into the places where we feel most comfortable: often our hiding places.
Do I dislike people? No. Do I hate talking to people? The fact that while I can be very reticent around strangers and yet can talk the ear off a donkey around others, suggests not. Does being put on the spot cause me to lose any idea of what to say? Yes! In fact, I would find it more stressful if someone told me to go talk to some stranger than I would if they told me to get up in front of a thousand people and say such-and-such.
The key for me was structure. I needed to get involved in order to get to know people. I could sit in the same spot for a whole year and never see the same person twice. In becoming involved, getting to know people came more easily.
But tonight, I find myself being challenged. So I've gotten to know a few people who are already connected. So what? Would they miss me so much if I wasn't there? Maybe a little bit, but they've got like thirty other people they can talk to. But some people come and go feeling like strangers. I know because I was one of them.
I was talking to a complete stranger about God tonight for about forty-five minutes after church. He had a lot to say on the subject and said some pretty thought-provoking things (he went to Tyndale back in the day, after all). One thing he mentioned was that when Christians talk to each other, even in small churches where everyone knows everyone, the conversation seems to stick to things like 'how's work going?' 'how's your great aunt?' But nobody ever asks, 'what's God doing in your life right now?' And it's true, I was raised, eighteen years of my life in small churches. People never challenged me. Can't say I grew very much either.
Now when I look at a big church, I see two degrees of separation from growth. Everyone's a stranger, so we don't even stop and ask them how work or school is going, let alone asking how their Walk is going.
In recent years we have heard much about the "population explosion" - masses of people burgeoning at rates hitherto undreamed of. But the population has been increasing at a far greater rate than the church. The reason is simple: while people have been multiplying, we have merely been making additions.
-D. James Kennedy
If we don't challenge each other to grow, what we'll see is spiritual addition rather than multiplication. Tonight, I feel challenged to break out of the comfort zone. Let God lead me to do the little things I've neglected. Even if it's as small as eye contact with a stranger, a smile, a word of greeting...
Nobody ever got a medal for the small things, but their absence generally speaks louder than the grand sweeping gestures.
And as it happens, the church around which I've hung with increasing frequency over the past four and a half years is pretty sizable. One could almost say largish. And for three of those years (two of which I was a student, only part of the time in the city - thus justifying in my mind having a 'drive-through' approach to church) I couldn't really say that I knew anyone there. If you were trying to spot me, it wouldn't be hard. Just look for an area where there was a pocket of empty seats, and I'd be sitting in the middle of it.
You see, I have that look. You know the one that people put on when they're riding on the coach alone and don't want someone sitting beside them in their personal space? I do it without thinking or trying. Some people hide behind sarcasm or silliness; some behind styles of clothing or language. Some people hide more overtly under their blankets in bed or under a pile of work at the office; some under hats or behind dark glasses. I hide by being aloof.
We are creatures of habit and by habit, we tend to slip into the places where we feel most comfortable: often our hiding places.
Do I dislike people? No. Do I hate talking to people? The fact that while I can be very reticent around strangers and yet can talk the ear off a donkey around others, suggests not. Does being put on the spot cause me to lose any idea of what to say? Yes! In fact, I would find it more stressful if someone told me to go talk to some stranger than I would if they told me to get up in front of a thousand people and say such-and-such.
The key for me was structure. I needed to get involved in order to get to know people. I could sit in the same spot for a whole year and never see the same person twice. In becoming involved, getting to know people came more easily.
But tonight, I find myself being challenged. So I've gotten to know a few people who are already connected. So what? Would they miss me so much if I wasn't there? Maybe a little bit, but they've got like thirty other people they can talk to. But some people come and go feeling like strangers. I know because I was one of them.
I was talking to a complete stranger about God tonight for about forty-five minutes after church. He had a lot to say on the subject and said some pretty thought-provoking things (he went to Tyndale back in the day, after all). One thing he mentioned was that when Christians talk to each other, even in small churches where everyone knows everyone, the conversation seems to stick to things like 'how's work going?' 'how's your great aunt?' But nobody ever asks, 'what's God doing in your life right now?' And it's true, I was raised, eighteen years of my life in small churches. People never challenged me. Can't say I grew very much either.
Now when I look at a big church, I see two degrees of separation from growth. Everyone's a stranger, so we don't even stop and ask them how work or school is going, let alone asking how their Walk is going.
In recent years we have heard much about the "population explosion" - masses of people burgeoning at rates hitherto undreamed of. But the population has been increasing at a far greater rate than the church. The reason is simple: while people have been multiplying, we have merely been making additions.
-D. James Kennedy
If we don't challenge each other to grow, what we'll see is spiritual addition rather than multiplication. Tonight, I feel challenged to break out of the comfort zone. Let God lead me to do the little things I've neglected. Even if it's as small as eye contact with a stranger, a smile, a word of greeting...
Nobody ever got a medal for the small things, but their absence generally speaks louder than the grand sweeping gestures.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
And the elevators are on the fritz
-Again...
If I take the stairs two at a time, then it's half the work, right? Looks like my training over the summer running up and down those stairs is going to pay off because the elevators are going to be undergoing work for the next few months.
The thing I quickly realized about running up and down a stairwell (other than the fact that you get tired much more quickly than running to the lake and back) is that it's pretty boring. Nothing to do but count steps.
14 steps... 17 flights... 238... 476... 714... nine times - 2142 up, 2142 down.
If I take the stairs two at a time, then it's half the work, right? Looks like my training over the summer running up and down those stairs is going to pay off because the elevators are going to be undergoing work for the next few months.
The thing I quickly realized about running up and down a stairwell (other than the fact that you get tired much more quickly than running to the lake and back) is that it's pretty boring. Nothing to do but count steps.
14 steps... 17 flights... 238... 476... 714... nine times - 2142 up, 2142 down.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
It's the most wonderful time of the year!
Is winter finally coming? While others blanch at weather reports of snow, it makes me smile. The first thing I'm going to have to do if we finally get winter is go skiing. This weekend. Or maybe next. Good times shall be had by all involved... as soon as I figure out just who will be involved.
I wanted to take my brother this winter but his recent operation suggests that he won't be in any condition for a little while. I'll have to find some friends who aren't too busy, too poor, or too much in love with summer.
I wanted to take my brother this winter but his recent operation suggests that he won't be in any condition for a little while. I'll have to find some friends who aren't too busy, too poor, or too much in love with summer.
Monday, January 8, 2007
Pheromones + serotonin = a match made in heaven
Every so often, I'm up for a good laugh and I glance through an MSN article. This one had got to take the cake today. The three phases of falling in love - yet it has nothing to do with love... After all I've written on love lately, I couldn't let this pass without comment.
When did love become chemistry and biology? And here I thought it was an emotional need and an act of the will.
Are people so out of touch with reality that they think that it's a bunch of chemical reactions that will keep a husband and wife together for over fifty years? Feelings? Feelings and then habit? The climbing divorce rate seems to imply that people do think so.
The article does have a lot to say about infatuation, which is the emotional impulse of love. And infatuation is great. But I wouldn't want to make any long-term plans on it. Love is patient. Think you love someone? Prove it by taking the time to let the bliss settle, and to take a long look at the different facets of the other person, and then act.
Love is not blind; infatuation is blind. People don't fall in love; they fall in ditches.
But I guess it's time to usher in the newer and better ideas of humankind. In light of this special occasion, I have taken a stab at editing I Corinthians 13. Maybe it'll start catching on for reading at weddings...
Love is rushed, love is blind. It can be jealous, it is a trophy, it is that falling feeling. It is irrational, it's about what you want as long as I want it, it is temperamental, it ends up temporal. Love avoids evil when convenient and forgets the truth for the greater good. It always grasps, sometimes trusts, vainly hopes, is easily broken.
/end sarcastic rant
When did love become chemistry and biology? And here I thought it was an emotional need and an act of the will.
Are people so out of touch with reality that they think that it's a bunch of chemical reactions that will keep a husband and wife together for over fifty years? Feelings? Feelings and then habit? The climbing divorce rate seems to imply that people do think so.
The article does have a lot to say about infatuation, which is the emotional impulse of love. And infatuation is great. But I wouldn't want to make any long-term plans on it. Love is patient. Think you love someone? Prove it by taking the time to let the bliss settle, and to take a long look at the different facets of the other person, and then act.
Love is not blind; infatuation is blind. People don't fall in love; they fall in ditches.
But I guess it's time to usher in the newer and better ideas of humankind. In light of this special occasion, I have taken a stab at editing I Corinthians 13. Maybe it'll start catching on for reading at weddings...
Love is rushed, love is blind. It can be jealous, it is a trophy, it is that falling feeling. It is irrational, it's about what you want as long as I want it, it is temperamental, it ends up temporal. Love avoids evil when convenient and forgets the truth for the greater good. It always grasps, sometimes trusts, vainly hopes, is easily broken.
/end sarcastic rant
I'm the wrong man for the job
Lord, I'll do anything you ask of me... except that.
Why is it that God so often asks us to do the things we don't want to do when there are so many other ways in which we would enjoy serving? Isn't there someone better? I'm just water - ordinary. But is it about us or about God? In doing the things we don't want to do, we submit to God's will and not our own selfishness.
Punishment for a self-effacing person is to throw them into a situation where they have to make small-talk with a complete stranger. The worst punishment is to force them to share personal information with a stranger. It's about as unfortunate of a combination as being a painfully shy extrovert. But regardless, today I began giving serious thought of taking the Evangelism Explosion course this winter. Is it where God is leading me, or is this just me being masochistic? I need to figure that out by Tuesday.
A challenging day with plenty on which to think. Tonight, I was challenged to evaluate my focus on justice. To do nothing is to support to status quo. But Father, what would You have me do? Am I to care for the poor and marginalized, and the widows and orphans, and the sick and diseased, and the persecuted? Or is the greatest injustice that people in our own country should talk to Christians every day, and yet never know God. If I focus on everyone, I'll be of use to no one. And I'll go completely mad.
So what would You have me do?
But that's the wrong question, I think. I mean if it was just about Him wanting get some task done, why use us at all? Couldn't He do it altogether more efficiently Himself? But in working through us, we ourselves come to know God more intimately, and we grow spiritually. Therefore the correct question might be more along the lines of, what would You have me be? Don't try to do all the big tasks on your own because you think they need to be done. To act in God's name without God's ordination is to break the third commandment, is it not? If God wants you to do those things, He will lead you there. Correct the areas of your life where The Spirit convicts you, and pay attention to Him for directions on even the small things.
It's a bit late to start illustrating what I mean but it's only Monday tomorrow. And I hate to bring this up given that I've written about girls entirely too much in the past month, but...
For years now, family members and friends have all started getting married and even started having children. And if I hadn't already been aware of the fact, others have certainly made extra sure that I knew my single peers are a dying breed. In the face of this situation, I had two questions for God. Do You intend for me to marry at all? And if so, how would You have me achieve that? God didn't answer either question. He certainly didn't say, go there, say this, do that. But He did convict me of selfishness. In the words of Dawson McAllister,
That's what marriage has taught me: I - am - selfish. Hate is not the opposite of love; selfishness is the opposite of love. And we need our selfishness problem dealt with. And that's why Jesus died on the cross. And that's why Jesus is alive. And that's why we need to turn our lives over to Jesus Christ, because when Christ comes into our life he gives us love. No Christ no love, no love no marriage.
So He's been at work in the selfishness aspect of my life. I still don't know if He will give me a partner. But what I do know is that I need to be what He would have me be, regardless of that.
Would getting married solve a person's selfishness problem? No, it would certainly make it more apparent, but it wouldn't solve anything. Would rushing off to another country to do mission work solve a person's selfishness problem? Maybe it's what you need to do to realize just how selfish you are. But that in itself isn't going to fix the problem, and you certainly won't accomplish great things until you do.
I submit that the justice problems we have in the world are a result of selfishness. Maybe we should be attacking the root rather than the symptom. We need to go back and submit our lives to Christ and be the servants God would have us be.
Whatever will follow will follow.
Why is it that God so often asks us to do the things we don't want to do when there are so many other ways in which we would enjoy serving? Isn't there someone better? I'm just water - ordinary. But is it about us or about God? In doing the things we don't want to do, we submit to God's will and not our own selfishness.
Punishment for a self-effacing person is to throw them into a situation where they have to make small-talk with a complete stranger. The worst punishment is to force them to share personal information with a stranger. It's about as unfortunate of a combination as being a painfully shy extrovert. But regardless, today I began giving serious thought of taking the Evangelism Explosion course this winter. Is it where God is leading me, or is this just me being masochistic? I need to figure that out by Tuesday.
A challenging day with plenty on which to think. Tonight, I was challenged to evaluate my focus on justice. To do nothing is to support to status quo. But Father, what would You have me do? Am I to care for the poor and marginalized, and the widows and orphans, and the sick and diseased, and the persecuted? Or is the greatest injustice that people in our own country should talk to Christians every day, and yet never know God. If I focus on everyone, I'll be of use to no one. And I'll go completely mad.
So what would You have me do?
But that's the wrong question, I think. I mean if it was just about Him wanting get some task done, why use us at all? Couldn't He do it altogether more efficiently Himself? But in working through us, we ourselves come to know God more intimately, and we grow spiritually. Therefore the correct question might be more along the lines of, what would You have me be? Don't try to do all the big tasks on your own because you think they need to be done. To act in God's name without God's ordination is to break the third commandment, is it not? If God wants you to do those things, He will lead you there. Correct the areas of your life where The Spirit convicts you, and pay attention to Him for directions on even the small things.
It's a bit late to start illustrating what I mean but it's only Monday tomorrow. And I hate to bring this up given that I've written about girls entirely too much in the past month, but...
For years now, family members and friends have all started getting married and even started having children. And if I hadn't already been aware of the fact, others have certainly made extra sure that I knew my single peers are a dying breed. In the face of this situation, I had two questions for God. Do You intend for me to marry at all? And if so, how would You have me achieve that? God didn't answer either question. He certainly didn't say, go there, say this, do that. But He did convict me of selfishness. In the words of Dawson McAllister,
That's what marriage has taught me: I - am - selfish. Hate is not the opposite of love; selfishness is the opposite of love. And we need our selfishness problem dealt with. And that's why Jesus died on the cross. And that's why Jesus is alive. And that's why we need to turn our lives over to Jesus Christ, because when Christ comes into our life he gives us love. No Christ no love, no love no marriage.
So He's been at work in the selfishness aspect of my life. I still don't know if He will give me a partner. But what I do know is that I need to be what He would have me be, regardless of that.
Would getting married solve a person's selfishness problem? No, it would certainly make it more apparent, but it wouldn't solve anything. Would rushing off to another country to do mission work solve a person's selfishness problem? Maybe it's what you need to do to realize just how selfish you are. But that in itself isn't going to fix the problem, and you certainly won't accomplish great things until you do.
I submit that the justice problems we have in the world are a result of selfishness. Maybe we should be attacking the root rather than the symptom. We need to go back and submit our lives to Christ and be the servants God would have us be.
Whatever will follow will follow.
Friday, January 5, 2007
Experiencing God
You can choose what not to believe in
You can deny there's a heaven above
But once you take a look at Jesus
There's no denying that God is Love
-Michael Card
There was an interesting lunchtime discussion this week about religion. The general consensus around the table was that religion is for the weak.
"I think that if I lost my sight, life would be pretty awful and I'd probably kill myself. But there are people who can endure incredible amounts of hardships because their religion gives them comfort," one said giving me sidelong looks, "But I don't believe it's real; it's just not tangible - it's not for me."
Yet he believes in love. You cannot see or hear love. You can't touch or taste it. And regardless of what anyone has told you, you can't even smell it. But you can see its effects in people; you can come to understand it more fully by experiencing it.
Everyone seemed to think that you couldn't experience God personally, which besides being untrue, is also no cause to reject the idea of God. When I was young and naive, I believed romantic love existed. It wasn't because somebody read me a textbook on love, or argued it into me. It was because I saw the results of love at work in other people. I never had to experience it personally to believe it existed.
As for truly experiencing love... If you don't believe in it, how can you even recognize it? If you don't submit to it, how can you experience it? But you can experience love personally. And you can experience God personally. God is Love.
Concepts of love are illustrated all over our media, however inaccurate they may be. Is it for that reason that everyone believes in it? Or is it because just about everyone has or knows someone who has personally experienced some facet of love?
So how shall we illustrate God to the world? Endless debates? Reciting verses or singing songs? Writing books or giving dissertations? Or is it in living a changed life? I submit that while the former is great, without the latter nothing will be accomplished.
You can deny there's a heaven above
But once you take a look at Jesus
There's no denying that God is Love
-Michael Card
There was an interesting lunchtime discussion this week about religion. The general consensus around the table was that religion is for the weak.
"I think that if I lost my sight, life would be pretty awful and I'd probably kill myself. But there are people who can endure incredible amounts of hardships because their religion gives them comfort," one said giving me sidelong looks, "But I don't believe it's real; it's just not tangible - it's not for me."
Yet he believes in love. You cannot see or hear love. You can't touch or taste it. And regardless of what anyone has told you, you can't even smell it. But you can see its effects in people; you can come to understand it more fully by experiencing it.
Everyone seemed to think that you couldn't experience God personally, which besides being untrue, is also no cause to reject the idea of God. When I was young and naive, I believed romantic love existed. It wasn't because somebody read me a textbook on love, or argued it into me. It was because I saw the results of love at work in other people. I never had to experience it personally to believe it existed.
As for truly experiencing love... If you don't believe in it, how can you even recognize it? If you don't submit to it, how can you experience it? But you can experience love personally. And you can experience God personally. God is Love.
Concepts of love are illustrated all over our media, however inaccurate they may be. Is it for that reason that everyone believes in it? Or is it because just about everyone has or knows someone who has personally experienced some facet of love?
So how shall we illustrate God to the world? Endless debates? Reciting verses or singing songs? Writing books or giving dissertations? Or is it in living a changed life? I submit that while the former is great, without the latter nothing will be accomplished.
Wednesday, January 3, 2007
Is this your version of the truth or your aversion to it?
"Well what would you have had me say?!"
"I don't know. Maybe something that wasn't completely untrue to start..."
Where does truth become exaggeration; exaggeration become insincerity; insincerity qualify for an outright lie? And why is it some people have a fleeting relationship with the truth, like the transient flings of high school students?
I've watched girls talk to each other in tones that sound so insincere to me. Best friends, yet they seem to think the job description is to figure out what your friend wants to hear and to say it with great fervour.
"I feel sorry for guys," a good friend told me candidly last evening. She seemed to think that there are a lot of girls out there who place a higher priority on saying what they think others want to hear than being honest. And that most guys don't seem to be able to cut through all the euphemisms and insincerity to the truth.
I can't argue that there aren't some pretty bad cases out there. But every so often, there are those who will show you immense respect by taking you at your word, and by offering their own. To offer praises fairly and to correct with dignity. Such people are a breath of fresh air in a stifling culture.
"I don't know. Maybe something that wasn't completely untrue to start..."
Where does truth become exaggeration; exaggeration become insincerity; insincerity qualify for an outright lie? And why is it some people have a fleeting relationship with the truth, like the transient flings of high school students?
I've watched girls talk to each other in tones that sound so insincere to me. Best friends, yet they seem to think the job description is to figure out what your friend wants to hear and to say it with great fervour.
"I feel sorry for guys," a good friend told me candidly last evening. She seemed to think that there are a lot of girls out there who place a higher priority on saying what they think others want to hear than being honest. And that most guys don't seem to be able to cut through all the euphemisms and insincerity to the truth.
I can't argue that there aren't some pretty bad cases out there. But every so often, there are those who will show you immense respect by taking you at your word, and by offering their own. To offer praises fairly and to correct with dignity. Such people are a breath of fresh air in a stifling culture.
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