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Cal's Pastoral Epistles
The Black Eye
June 22, 2007
I would have chosen purple if I was choosing the shade of eye shadow
that would suit me. It is a royal color. Of course I neither chose the color
or decided that having a black eye was a fashion statement. Yet all week
long I have been walking around with my very first shiner. When people
ask me what happened, I joke and make up a different story depending on
who I am talking to or what the situation is. But this morning I want you
to know the truth. My wife gave me the black eye.
It was a scene fresh out of an episode of the Three Stooges. It wasn't
Moe pulling Curly's hair or Larry poking Shep in the eye, it was Lori's
head connecting solidly with mine. If there was anyone there to witness it,
they would have seen two people trying to do the same thing at the same
time. It was slapstick comedy at its very best. The only difference was
that it really hurt.
I went to bed that night without the slightest suspicion that anything was
askew. Yes, my head hurt a bit, but that was the natural outcome of our
worlds colliding. I thought nothing of it until I woke up the next morning.
As I tried to open my eyes, I had the sensation that somehow the pillow I
had slept on had become a part of my face and lodged itself under my left
eye. I panicked at first and wondered what was going on. Then in an
"Alfred Hitchcock" moment, I passed a mirror and saw the monster I had
become.
Having a black eye wouldn't be too bad if you could stay home and avoid
the public. Unfortunately for me, I had places to go and things to see. I
had to be at church on Sunday and Rotary on Wednesday. I was going to
be serving as host for the judges of the Miss Connecticut Pageant at the
end of the week. I thought about wearing cover-up make up or finding a
pirate's patch to hide it For a passing moment I even considered looking
for a matching shade of eyeshadow for the other eye so that I could tell
everyone I was trying to start a new fad for the upscale GQ man. In the
end I decided to just suck it up and face the world. I would just have to
live with it
As I began to really think about my black eye, it suddenly dawned on me
that my story is so typical of life in general. Every day we are affected by
our interactions with others. We say we bang heads with our boss, our
loved ones, our neighbors and we don't always come away with a literal
black eye, but we are affected in some way by what happens in our
encounters. Sometimes we walk away with invisible scars that touch us
deeply.
On the other hand we have the power to heal and to bless those we meet.
God encourages us throughout the pages of scripture to be a blessing to
others. Just as Israel was called to be a light, a blessing to the nations, you
and I are called to be a blessing to those we meet on the road of life. The
truth is that we all can have a positive effect on those we meet if we seek
to share God's love and reach out in his name. Instead of going away
scarred for life, the people we meet will go away renewed and thankful.
For in us, they will have felt the hand of God.
God bless. See you in church. Cal.
June 22, 2007
I would have chosen purple if I was choosing the shade of eye shadow
that would suit me. It is a royal color. Of course I neither chose the color
or decided that having a black eye was a fashion statement. Yet all week
long I have been walking around with my very first shiner. When people
ask me what happened, I joke and make up a different story depending on
who I am talking to or what the situation is. But this morning I want you
to know the truth. My wife gave me the black eye.
It was a scene fresh out of an episode of the Three Stooges. It wasn't
Moe pulling Curly's hair or Larry poking Shep in the eye, it was Lori's
head connecting solidly with mine. If there was anyone there to witness it,
they would have seen two people trying to do the same thing at the same
time. It was slapstick comedy at its very best. The only difference was
that it really hurt.
I went to bed that night without the slightest suspicion that anything was
askew. Yes, my head hurt a bit, but that was the natural outcome of our
worlds colliding. I thought nothing of it until I woke up the next morning.
As I tried to open my eyes, I had the sensation that somehow the pillow I
had slept on had become a part of my face and lodged itself under my left
eye. I panicked at first and wondered what was going on. Then in an
"Alfred Hitchcock" moment, I passed a mirror and saw the monster I had
become.
Having a black eye wouldn't be too bad if you could stay home and avoid
the public. Unfortunately for me, I had places to go and things to see. I
had to be at church on Sunday and Rotary on Wednesday. I was going to
be serving as host for the judges of the Miss Connecticut Pageant at the
end of the week. I thought about wearing cover-up make up or finding a
pirate's patch to hide it For a passing moment I even considered looking
for a matching shade of eyeshadow for the other eye so that I could tell
everyone I was trying to start a new fad for the upscale GQ man. In the
end I decided to just suck it up and face the world. I would just have to
live with it
As I began to really think about my black eye, it suddenly dawned on me
that my story is so typical of life in general. Every day we are affected by
our interactions with others. We say we bang heads with our boss, our
loved ones, our neighbors and we don't always come away with a literal
black eye, but we are affected in some way by what happens in our
encounters. Sometimes we walk away with invisible scars that touch us
deeply.
On the other hand we have the power to heal and to bless those we meet.
God encourages us throughout the pages of scripture to be a blessing to
others. Just as Israel was called to be a light, a blessing to the nations, you
and I are called to be a blessing to those we meet on the road of life. The
truth is that we all can have a positive effect on those we meet if we seek
to share God's love and reach out in his name. Instead of going away
scarred for life, the people we meet will go away renewed and thankful.
For in us, they will have felt the hand of God.
God bless. See you in church. Cal.
Pastor Cal Lord writes these weekly epistles to
help us see God in every day things.
help us see God in every day things.
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