There is a friend of mine who inspires me.
6 months ago he was living in a tent down by the river (Chris Farley should be ringing in your ears). Through a slow, difficult, and patient process he now has a steady job, roof over his head, and plans for his future.
Be careful not to think that I am glad he has a job, a roof, and plans. Those are simply the signs in his life that something deeper is going on; the costume that a new creation has decided to don. I'm inspired because he found something inside of himself strong enough to push through 20 years of addiction, 2 marriages, and 4 months of homelessness.
If you are anything like me you bring to this story an element of skepticism to the validity or longevity of his change. Shame on us for hiding behind the cynical veneer of "being a realist". Christ's first and only response is one of compassion and hope, and so should ours be. Right?
Well, I have never seen this same friend of mine glow as much as he did this past Sunday. His new set of teeth came in. At first, I didn't recognize him. Seriously, I thought he looked familiar but could not think of who he was. And then I realized, it was my old friend with a new smile! It showed me the intimate connection between physical and spiritual things. His spirit found new dignity in a set of dentures.
He looked like a million bucks; you should have seen him.
i finally remembered my password! i created this account years ago but forgot the info. anyways, now i can comment! BWA HA AHAHAH!
ReplyDeleteI love this post!!! Well, I love them all but this one speaks so much. My mom and dad through working in CR for so many years have tons of friends w/o teeth, and some how they don't even notice it. I will be hanging out with them and later ask, so who was the guy wearing blah blah w/o teeth. And it takes Norma FOREVER to figure out who I am talking about. She'll go, what? They don't have teeth. I love that lady!!!
ReplyDeleteI also like when you talked about not rejoicing when people change stating that in time they will just be back where they were. Exactly like you said, that is not what our Savior modeled for us.
Love you Joe!
Oh, that Norma. What a hoot! Good to hear they are still working/running CR. CR provides a community for anybody, teeth or no teeth. Thanks for you words/blogs, Molly.
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