Witnessing In The Walmart Parking Lot

I saw the Pollard brothers last Friday in the Walmart parking lot. I run into Justin every year or so but I don't think I had seen Paul Peter in five years at least. They are two of my favorite students at WCS or anywhere else. Justin comes up each year in my example of the feeding of the 5,000- he was a terrific lineman for our football squads and could put down some groceries at IHOP when I dined with the family at that fine establishment! I had a nickname for Paul Peter when he was my student. Another young man in class had the initials PP so he was P Squared. It seemed natural at the time to make Paul Peter Pollard The Cube! They were just wonderful kids back in the day- now, they are wonderful adults. They aren't the only ones in the family. They have two younger sisters who are just sweethearts! Their dad, Paul, is also important in my scheme of things. He not only designed the website for the book I wrote, he maintains it to this day. And significantly, he was the one who convinced me to get on Facebook in the spring of 2011. Not coincidentally, that social media conversation occurred in the same Walmart parking lot where I ran into his sons!

As I caught up with the brothers, Paul Peter said something that meant the world to me. He talked about being blessed by my being his instructor and he included this:
"I'll always remember what you told us in class. 'The Bible does not cover up the flaws of its characters.' "
When a student recalls something word for word, it makes teachers swell up a bit with pride. And he was right. That is one of the initial notes I give every year. Paul Peter had an advantage- he heard it in both eighth grade and tenth grade so I was able to reinforce it. Considering it was eight years ago (I think!), my words were able to make a lasting impression. Of course, the words were someone else's originally. I simply borrowed and passed them along.

I did something really stupid today. I made coffee....... while neglecting to put the pot in its place under the dripper. When I returned to the kitchen, coffee was everywhere over the counter and almost all of the water was out of the reservoir. In other words, it was a mess and it took some time to clean up. You know, if anyone ever wrote a biography of me, that's the kind of negative stuff I would hope would make the final cut; absent minded, lack of technological skills, messy, etc. What I wouldn't want in there was the the unkind things I have said and done and the impure thoughts and actions I've spawned. I would not want the opinions of those I've hurt or betrayed. And yet, that's the kind of stuff the Bible includes, warts and all. Each new fall term, I still use the same acronym as I did when I taught Paul Peter and Justin about the frailty of Bible characters: MAD, as in Moses-Aaron-David. We also should toss Abraham, Isaac, Jacob (and his sons) into the mix. And so as not to appear sexist, we should not forget the poor behavior at times of Sarah, Rachel, Leah, Rebekah. I find it comforting that all those mentioned above play a prominent role in the story of redemption, in spite of their weaknesses and struggles. Inspired scripture lets us see these ancients as they really were, without the airbrushing modern biographers tend to paint their subjects with. I've always believed but if had not been brought up in faith, it would make these heroes actually human and not the mythological creatures of some religions. And it gives me hope that I can be used in spite of my deficiencies. Even me and even you. And Paul Peter reminded me.

Applicable quote of the day:
The misfortune is that many people, men and women, think that the perfect face has no flaws, no pores in the skin; and that gives unrealistic levels of esteem. Somebody feels they're not right because they haven't got that type of refinement. 
Douglas Kirkland


God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
www.hawleybooks.com
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com