Howdy! Thanks for being there the faithful few.☺️. There isn't even a question that we have become a much more disposable society. Some of you guys out in the audience, probably remember a parent or grandparent who had some appliance that seemed to last for just like forever. It may have been a washer or dryer that kept the Maytag man at bay, or that refrigerator that always made a funny noise, but just refused to give up the ghost ☺️☺️ I believe that the saying was if it ain't broke then , then don't fix it☺️☺️. We were not known for so much , as the age of the upgrade. They also would say , they just don't make them the way that they use to. That could just possibly point to good old fashion know how, which use to be known as American pride and* ingenuity. Honestly, now days we produce very little as far as manufacturing goes, and many of our craved consumer products are made outside of country, where they can be produced or put together fairly cheaply. We don't usually give much thought to where things are made and most of time we just assume China, or some other place, where they will work for less than what Americans would consider a decent wage, and it's all in the name of progress. There is a lot more to that story, but not today 😀😀
I don't really know what comes to mind when you think about throw aways. It could be that really expensive pair of jeans, that You and your butt couldn't just agree on if you were ever going to be that thin again or not. ☺️☺️There is always the person who loves the pint of Haagen-Dazs late at night, while doing all kinds of online shopping on the QVC network, and has just loaded up the garage with all kinds of neat gadgets that will be next month's yard sale☺️☺️. I think that maybe, my personal favorite is the person who throws just enough stuff away to keep from being personally designated as a hoarder☺️☺️. They are tempted to take a call from the show's producers, but just not feeling up for an intervention ☺️☺️. Of course I'm just having a little fun at someone's expense, and you know who you are☺️☺️. I joke, but sometimes it's just not a joking matter.
We are so much more disposable, that it really shouldn't take us by surprise, that this same mind set has been applied to real life people. There use to be swanky names for people who were marginalized. There are more than four generations of kids living on the streets, who we use to refer to as children of the night. Just like predators that come out after dark, their deeds were concealed under the cover of darkness. It could be a little breaking and entering, the occasional mugging, but the saddest was them selling their bodies just to survive. There is just this really huge banner now, and it stretches from what use to be from sea to shinning sea, and now we just say the homeless. Almost every city in America has some form of it, regardless of how small the town may be. It's so common in some of the larger cities, that it has just become customary to step over people who are lying in door ways. I think just maybe the sea to shinning sea, has just lost some of its luster.
I wonder all to often what lead up to someone becoming disposable, by the wealthiest nation on the planet. I'm going to come at this from an odd* angel, because, well, I'm just an odd ball☺️☺️. Let's talk about one of the most thrown around trendy topics of the day and it has become "self care ". It's all about loving one's self and the hell with other people. They frame it as cutting negativity out of their lives, but I see it often, but not always as an act of selfishness. I think back to my military training and it's so much easier to blow up a bridge, than it is to build or maintain a bridge. Sometimes it's expediency or just the path of least resistance. It's probably sad to say this, but all to often we straight up think about how someone will affect our own little world. It's a twist on what's in it for me? ☺️. I'm just not so sure that we immediately think about how we could possibly be a blessing to someone else. I guess it's just simple mathematics to see people as a plus or minus. I think for myself it's just probably easier to label people so that we can place them in the proper category and sometimes its as simple as useful or not. People will be quick to tell you that they are looking out for themselves and that you personally don't add value to their existence. I guess for myself, I just see it as a cop out, because they are judging someone else based solely on what they bring to the table, sounds rather shallow, when I phrase it that way, but I didn't stutter☺️☺️
I get that there are toxic people and toxic situations, and yes!, life is so much better minus the drama, and if you don't add queen to that word, most of us crave peace. ☺️ What I see, when we are really quick to dispose of people is someone who is happy with who they are and aren't really interested in growing and becoming a better human being. They are usually the my way or the highway people☺️. See, if we take the time to figure things out instead of throwing them out, we help others to become better, while we are becoming better ourselves. If you dare, it's the whole iron sharpening iron thing. I think that we would just rather label someone as difficult to get along with than actually making an effort. These people are usually isolated, they maybe well known, but no one knows them if that makes sense at all. They have huge fortress walls around their lives, mostly from past experiences. I'm not going to go on, because to sound like a few people that I actually know 🙃
I don't know who said it first or where I picked it up from, but people are so much more than the sum of their failures and the not so shiny moments. Much the same can be said about success, it's not final, and it's often hiding some other weakness or flaw and it doesn't matter who you are. So the world's best mom of all time to the most successful CEO. Again! , here I believe our eyes are the culprit. We see people with our eyes , instead of evaluating them with our hearts. Along with self care is the saying " when people show you who they are.....believe them! . Another attempt to justify our actions for labeling someone as a throw away. I would absolutely sign up for a root canal than to sign up for someone's else's drama☺️. We see someone or a situation with our eyes again ,and never not once think what is behind it all. Sometimes we experience bad days, really tough ones at times and an unlimited number of responses as to , how come! Sometimes those days turn into a week or a month or a year that we can't wait to see the end of....but what about people who are in just a tough season of life ? And as much as you wish that the year wasn't expressed in plurals, but it is. I'm going to drop a name.
Robert Downy Jr. , much love and success. He writes his own ticket in Hollywood. He's had millions of little boys and girls wish that they were Ironman, and yes some really big kids as well ☺️☺️. Yes, this is the same Robert Downey Jr. , who was a drug addict and convicted felon, since we love that one so much now days☺️☺️. See, that's just it, we see people for who they are and not so much for who they could become. We don't think about them in a positive light or how they may transcend the culture. We say and see broken and then we just check out. As long as there is still breath in the lungs, the story isn't over. We have to stop trying to define and hold people captive based on their past. I'm somewhat of a realist and I know that Robert Downy Jr. had a little bit of a silver spoon growing up and that his story probably isn't the typical happy ending, but he had to put in the work and more importantly someone had to believe in him and give him another chance. I can't tell you exactly how many chances that he received, but jail time and addiction wasn't the end of his story. We like to be able to write off or throw people away, because it's effortless and usually requires very little of us, other than having a heart that may be a little frigid and easily closed off. Oh yeah life can get messy and usually some pain associated with growing and learning things about yourself and other people and who You are in relation to them.
There are patterns in life and not always good ones, and sometimes they sneak up on us as to the things that we have picked up along the way. It's probably obvious and both sad that abused people often become what they have experienced. Sadly sometimes it becomes a sick and twisted family tradition 😪 as we can point to generation after generation of incarceration and sometimes doing time in the same facility. What about us? The supposedly squeaky clean law abiding citizens? Are there areas in our lives that would and should convict us to at least to some level of shame as we have just become desensitized to other human beings, made in God's very image, just like us , being thrown out and disregarded as if they were yesterday's trash. Yes, patterns and not always good one's, but there has been the supreme example of swimming against the current, being a cut above, going against the grain and seeing people for who they truly are. Jesus is that example, He not only points to another way, but He lived it, modeled it and died a sacrificial death to make the illustration of the most impact full life of all times.
This may seem a bit strange, but Jesus's lead in was always to make eye contact. The scriptures talks about how He intently looked at people, which implies intentionality. Are we intentional when we look at and observe the " throw aways" , or are we afraid to make that eye contact and to be intentional?. I think sometimes we think if we don't look at them or some how engage with them, then it's not real and that they will just go away and we can just get on with our day🥲. Again desensitized, and it's no matter if it's an unwanted pregnancy or a panhandler on the corner, we want to avoid the unpleasant . Christ always lead with compassion and He treated what we would consider as the worst or least of them with dignity. We need to open our eyes and realize that we are ourselves are the worst of them. We who are occasionally smug and seemingly having it all together are the worst of these. We who are educated, living in nice homes and a little bit of the plush life are the worst of these. I don't really know who we are or what could be said of us, when we see others as disposable. It doesn't matter if it's a vet with a sign, a runaway with a difficult home life, a family on the street who were overwhelmed with medical bills or the stereotypical person that we think about , when we think about the homeless, but they all matter. They all have a story and I can promise you, it's not usually what you would expect or think that there story would be. Everyone of them has a soul and was created in the image of God , and they matter to God and He loves each and every one of them.
Let us not forget that God sent His son on a rescue mission. It wasn't just some stroll in the park, or a thirty- three year long holiday from the thrown room of heaven. ☺️☺️Judge me freely, I can just tell You that if I was God , humanity just wouldn't exist today. My one and only son for a bunch of ingrates ,....I don't think so! A bunch of people on our best days , the most positive thing that can be said about us is that we are stiffed necked!☺️☺️. I'm just so thankful and grateful that God chose to love us in spite of ourselves and our willful disobedience. I have attempted to love people out of various situations and lifestyle choices, and most of the time, they have failed far short, even though my intentions were good. God has the power to do , what I have often failed at, but He doesn't give up on us, because He loves in a super natural way and wants to engage with His creation. You are that person that He wants to make eye contact with and be intentional with. There are no throw aways in God's economy. Every single person has value and worth, even if it can't be seen and detected with the naked eye.
We sometimes get to big for our britches, and begin to think more highly of ourselves than we should. My career track has been, let's just say vast, so I've done a lot of different things over the years. I spent many years in one role or the other managing people and I learned early on that it's leadership through example. When I managed restaurants and sent someone to clean the restrooms, it was something that I had to be prepared to do myself or how else would I be able to recognize if it was done well or not. It may seem remedial, but it's important. Where am I going with this? God has given us an example to follow and He did it in a trail blazing way. He included the ones who were often overlooked, mistreated and marginalized. They were the lame , blind, the poor , you know the needy ones who had nothing to offer, and could probably never repay any kindness. News flash, we are all the needy ones ☺️ He treated all with dignity and respect, even the one's that we may think are beyond the pail. We think that we have somehow made it, when we reach certain levels of success. We all need God's love and compassion and it doesn't matter if it's an exclusive gated community or some tent city where the homeless gather and seek community.
If we belong to God ? Then let us follow His example and learn to lead with love and compassion and to do it gracefully. I would be the biggest hypocrite on the face of the planet if I told you that I get this right all of the time. Honestly probably get it wrong more times than not, but I do try to keep it in front of me. People have all kinds of brokenness and wreckage in their lives, and most of the time it's not an easy fix. The easy thing is to look away and maybe pretend that it doesn't exist, but where would we be if God had taken that position with us? I don't think that living in the wilderness would even be a starting point for us. Thank God that He chose to love and lead the way and now He is asking the question, will you join Him , in seeing the ones who are overlooked and often seen as " throw aways "
