“Get skillful and godly Wisdom, get understanding (discernment,
comprehension, and interpretation)…” Proverbs 4:5 (The Amplified Bible)
The Shelby County Sheriff Posse
Rodeo was a big deal every year in my hometown of Center. There was a well-orchestrated parade and the
whole nine yards. I remember as a very
small child watching and hearing those snorting, stomping bucking broncs caged
in and waiting on the edges of the arena.
A cowboy would climb on, and when they opened those chutes, a horse came
ripping out kicking and convulsing and maniacally throwing himself into every
manner of contortion trying to throw off his rider who was attempting to break
him, to hold him down, and cramp his style.
This bucking bronc is perfect symbol of
me as a child.
Of course, I didn’t see myself
that way at the time. I didn’t consider
that I was some wild, gyrating terror whom necessary riders were attempting and
needing to tame. I didn’t see myself as
malicious or rebellious in any way. I
just thought I was having fun.
Most who hear of my childhood
antics register a shock upon their faces.
They don’t think that kind of a childhood is in character with the
school-teaching, devotional-writing adult who would be married for 40 years to
a quiet, mild-mannered fellow like my Larry. I suppose that’s because since
those days I have been tamed
considerably. But the truth is that there’s still some of that kid in here,
doing some occasional snortin’ and floppin’ around inside the chute.
We are told in Paul’s Second
Letter to the Corinthians that we are to be “transformed into the image of Christ from one degree of glory to the
next,” so as adults we must certainly put off the childish parts of our
nature that might hinder that kind of growth.
But then, Jesus Himself warns us against losing certain aspects of a
childlike nature. He goes so far as to say that unless we come as a child, we
can “in no wise enter the kingdom of Heaven.”
Hmmm. What to do? How can we manage such a crucial
balancing act?
I tried to summarize in poetry my
struggle with this.
Ultimate
Dilemma
I
want to be pretty; I want to be plain.
I
want to be a barefoot dancer in the rain.
But
then again, on the other hand,
I’d
rather be practical and wear brown wool,
Something
that will make me invisible.
I
want to write poetry, be romantic and lacy;
I
want to break bottles, break rules and go crazy.
I
want to be vivid: I want to be pale.
I wish
to inspire; I’d like to regale.
I’d
like to be nameless with a face to forget
Like
a chameleon that blends in and graciously fits.
But
oh, this desire to be a rebel in red—
Blazing
through pinks with a chicken on her head!
Can you relate? Do
you look back at the kid version of yourself and compare it to the adult
model? If you haven’t lately, I really
recommend that to you. Some of the weightiest and most enduring influences upon
us emanate from some of the least predictable sources. The message is often camouflaged by the blur
of activity we are involved in; without good guidance, we can’t make sense of
the seeming randomness of all that is happening. We can’t find any logical pattern or common
thread or recognize the key individuals who are placed strategically in our
paths, especially in our youth, and thus, we will likely miss the big picture
at the time. But we are blessed to get
more chances to recognize these messages as we travel concentrically past them
by way of memory. Just because we missed the lessons of our youth when we were
youthful doesn’t mean we can’t glean wisdom from them later and still benefit
from them and be changed by them in significant ways.
Dedicate some time to tracing the steps that took you from
there to here. Then ask yourself if you are appropriately grateful for the
people and events that took you from there to here. We can learn much about ourselves way down
there as a child that viewed from these heights might make a lot more sense and
give us a needed change of attitude and even a crucial change of heart.
