Tuesday, July 5, 2011

(heart)+(peace sign)= (smiley face)

So I stopped at a gas station awhile back. I pumped my gas and headed into the station to pay my bill. As I was walking through the lot toward the door, I had to wait for one particular car to go past. This car was nothing special, but it was moving fast and paying no attention to any pedestrians. I had to watch out for myself.

As I waited for the car to pass, I noticed that someone- I assume it was the driver- had painted a message on the back window. It was interesting and a little uplifting. With well-known symbols the message was: Love and peace make happiness. WOW! It made my day. I watched the car go by and meditated on the message of peace, love and happiness. What a great Christian message for the day.

After the car passed, I continued toward the building to pay when I realized that I had not paid attention to my pump number. I turned to see if the gas pump was marked, when a girl getting out of that same car looked at me. She shouted at me across the parking lot, "Sir, please stop looking at me."

I was dumbfounded. Her message of love was a ruse. She did not love me. She did not want me to be happy. In fact, she was working not to create peace, but to disrupt it. I was embarrassed, hurt, disappointed and a little bit angry. The uplift that I got initially was shot to heck.

I'm afraid, however, that this is my story all too often. I look like a Christian. I believe like a Christian. But unfortunately, often I am impatient, unloving and judgmental. I want to be all that Christ calls me to be, but I am not. My attitudes and actions are not always consistent with the Christian image that I want to portray.

God help me to be what he wants me to be. God forbid that I be a hypocrite.