A Couple of Lessons in Humility
I hand-wrote this on a brand new note-pad in Houston, then drove to Corpus Christi and entered it in my blog. You may now refer to me as the Travelling Blogger!!!
"many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first." - Matthew 19:30, NIV
One of the most over-used out-of-context passages from the Bible (preceded by the 'eye for an eye' passage and 'Thou Shalt Not Judge', of course!), this phrase came to life for your apparently not very humble author today. See, I pride myself on my humility. Perhaps that should be a red flag, but I'm too humble to notice...
Ok - so I embarked on a mission today:
I grabbed about $3.75 in dimes and nickels (we're all out of quarters as well) and mumbled something to my wife about being embarassed 'cuz I jingle when I walk. She lecured me that money is money and "if all our kids have to spend is dimes and nickels, they will hold their heads high." Well, I guess she's right.
I headed for the post office, 3-year-old in tow, and waited in line for 20 minutes to mail a letter to Malaysia. It only cost 84 cents. Our credit card (which I would much rather have used) has a 1-dollar minimum. I would have had to buy something extra to make it a whole dollar if I were using the card. Funny thing, though, the lady thanked me - actually thanked me - for using eight dimes and a nickel because her drawer was short on change. Lesson One: What you consider to be an embarassment may very well be someone else's blessing! I didn't think about it until I was in the car - I could have offered her a couple more dollars in change!
Driving in Houston on a rainy Saturday afternoon reminds me of the Hurricane Rita evacuation. 4 million people in their cars adn each one is constantly jockeying for position so they can be in front of you at the next red light rather than behind you. Yes, I'm guilty of this as well, but when it's someone else doing it -- well, they're the ones being maniacs. Not me. Anyway, getting cut-off seven times in two miles can make even Ghandi cranky.
So by the time I arrived at Wal-Mart, I'm already less than happy. I find out that it's going to be about an hour and a half to balance tires. Great! I wanted to hit the road to Corpus thirty minutes ago, and I'm now finding out that I'm going to be delayed a total of two hours! Oh, well. I guess I can spend an enjoyable time at McD's with my daughter.
When I got to the snack bar, the place was a mess. They were out of apple pies, too. I made sure I brought extra coin so I could buy two apple pies for a dollar. And the guy behind the register just looked like he wanted me out of his line. One guy looked like he was cleaning, but on closer approach I saw that he was on his cell phone. That really torqued me off. I went to speak with the manager, but she was too busy to take a second to speak with a concerned customer. I mumbled something about lousy customer service and walked to a dirty table with my daughter. I sat down, whipped out the pens and paper I'd brought, and we started doodling and laughing.
Then the most amazing thing happened. The guy who was on his cell phone came out of the back with a bucket that reeked of chlorine (that's a good stink in this case) and proceeded to clean the tables, the chairs, the high chairs and the soda area. Made everything sparkling, too! My daughter spilled our drink and he was there with a handful of napkins before I could even get up from the table! Lesson Two: You're never too high and mighty for one of the 'little people' to take you down a peg or two.
I learned two valuable lessons regarding humility today. These lessons reminded me that yesterday doesn't matter (nobody cares about your status yesterday) and tomorrow won't happen (nobody cares about your status tomorrow). All that really matters is today. Live it like it's your last.
"many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first." - Matthew 19:30, NIV
One of the most over-used out-of-context passages from the Bible (preceded by the 'eye for an eye' passage and 'Thou Shalt Not Judge', of course!), this phrase came to life for your apparently not very humble author today. See, I pride myself on my humility. Perhaps that should be a red flag, but I'm too humble to notice...
Ok - so I embarked on a mission today:
- Mail a letter to my oldest's pen-pal in Malaysia
- Take the van to get the tires balanced
I grabbed about $3.75 in dimes and nickels (we're all out of quarters as well) and mumbled something to my wife about being embarassed 'cuz I jingle when I walk. She lecured me that money is money and "if all our kids have to spend is dimes and nickels, they will hold their heads high." Well, I guess she's right.
I headed for the post office, 3-year-old in tow, and waited in line for 20 minutes to mail a letter to Malaysia. It only cost 84 cents. Our credit card (which I would much rather have used) has a 1-dollar minimum. I would have had to buy something extra to make it a whole dollar if I were using the card. Funny thing, though, the lady thanked me - actually thanked me - for using eight dimes and a nickel because her drawer was short on change. Lesson One: What you consider to be an embarassment may very well be someone else's blessing! I didn't think about it until I was in the car - I could have offered her a couple more dollars in change!
Driving in Houston on a rainy Saturday afternoon reminds me of the Hurricane Rita evacuation. 4 million people in their cars adn each one is constantly jockeying for position so they can be in front of you at the next red light rather than behind you. Yes, I'm guilty of this as well, but when it's someone else doing it -- well, they're the ones being maniacs. Not me. Anyway, getting cut-off seven times in two miles can make even Ghandi cranky.
So by the time I arrived at Wal-Mart, I'm already less than happy. I find out that it's going to be about an hour and a half to balance tires. Great! I wanted to hit the road to Corpus thirty minutes ago, and I'm now finding out that I'm going to be delayed a total of two hours! Oh, well. I guess I can spend an enjoyable time at McD's with my daughter.
When I got to the snack bar, the place was a mess. They were out of apple pies, too. I made sure I brought extra coin so I could buy two apple pies for a dollar. And the guy behind the register just looked like he wanted me out of his line. One guy looked like he was cleaning, but on closer approach I saw that he was on his cell phone. That really torqued me off. I went to speak with the manager, but she was too busy to take a second to speak with a concerned customer. I mumbled something about lousy customer service and walked to a dirty table with my daughter. I sat down, whipped out the pens and paper I'd brought, and we started doodling and laughing.
Then the most amazing thing happened. The guy who was on his cell phone came out of the back with a bucket that reeked of chlorine (that's a good stink in this case) and proceeded to clean the tables, the chairs, the high chairs and the soda area. Made everything sparkling, too! My daughter spilled our drink and he was there with a handful of napkins before I could even get up from the table! Lesson Two: You're never too high and mighty for one of the 'little people' to take you down a peg or two.
I learned two valuable lessons regarding humility today. These lessons reminded me that yesterday doesn't matter (nobody cares about your status yesterday) and tomorrow won't happen (nobody cares about your status tomorrow). All that really matters is today. Live it like it's your last.
Labels: Kingdom
(ä
d
-
s
) [Spanish adiós, probably translated from French à dieu. (I commend you) to God : a, to (from Latin ad. See ad-) + Dieu, God (from Latin deus. See dyeu- in Indo-European Roots).]
posted by ClayMan @ 11:03 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home