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Saturday, July 01, 2006

After all...We are all the same


We are all the same, originally uploaded by beyondhope.

Today is the day I've been waiting for -- for several weeks. Today was the culmination of much hard work, sorting through DOZENS of boxes in our garage (a.k.a. THE WAREHOUSE), preparing for today --THE YARD SALE!

Have I mentioned how much I dislike yard sales? Shopping at yard sales is one thing. I'm an expert at that and it's one of my favorite activities. However, HOSTING a yard sale is quite another story. I hate hosting yard sales. It seems that after weeks of unpacking, sorting, arranging and pricing we should have received a lot more fiscal compensation than we did. Compared to working a full-time job and receiving a paycheck...well, there's just no comparison. Yard sales are a lot of physical work and I'm exhausted. Have I mentioned how much I dislike yard sales?

Something happened at the yard sale today which was very upsetting. I was selling our wares, minding my own business, when a car pulled up and two women and a child got out of the car. Immediately upon seeing these individuals, (who happened to be Muslim in traditional dress), two other customers commented to me that I needed to really watch these people because they've been known to "five-finger discount" items and probably they had deep pockets in their clothing which would enable them to steal many items. I was a bit shocked at hearing these comments and marveled that someone would have the audacity to judge someone simply based on their appearance or ethnic group.

What was more upsetting to me was that I found myself watching these women much more closely than I did any of the other customers present at the sale. Of course, they did not steal anything, in fact were very friendly and polite. And the little girl who was with them was absolutely beautiful with a head of dark, curly hair, a beautiful smile and a pair of the biggest brown eyes that I've ever seen on a child. So why did I find myself watching their every move? Had I not been told by the previous customers that I should "look out" for them, I never would've given them another thought. Instead, I would've spent more time noticing how beautiful the little girl was instead of wondering what they may try to steal.

After all --we are all created in God's image. We're all the same. We all have the opportunity to become His children. We all put our pants on one leg at a time... (I hadn't thought that I had a problem in the area of knowing that we're all the same, but there seems to be a central theme in what the Lord has been teaching me lately. Refer to my previous post.

Oh...the power of the tongue. God's Word tells us that we have the power of life and death in our tongue. How true that is. In terms of spiritual anatomy, the tongue is directly wed to the heart, and it is the heart that motivates and manipulates the tongue for good or evil, to bless or curse.

Jesus understood this very well. In Matthew 12:35-37, He said, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give an account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

My prayer today is that I may always think before I speak. May my words not be used to bring condemnation on another for no good reason.

Do not accuse a man for no reason
when he has done you no harm.

--Proverbs 3:30

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