New Attitudes and New Lenses

   Two things have brought a thought to my mind this morning:

   1. A "musing" as he calls it, from one of my Profs in grad school, that talks about the glory in each one of us. And by us, he means everyone. We each also have a part of the ruin of the Fall in us, some more than others, but even the worst of us have a piece of the glory, just from bearing the image of God in the Creation.

   2. A session with some men at our church early today in which we talked about the worth of each individual that darkens the door of our church at any given time. We talked about the fact that our Sunday services are not just a big crowd in the room, but many individuals, with their individual hurts, problems and victories.

   I find that each time I go to prison, I don't have much trouble in talking one on one with the inmates. I had never thought about that being the glory in me, however small, connecting with the glory in them, whatever the size. It was more about treating them with respect, letting them know that they were more than just a number in the prison system. Consciously or not, perhaps we were connecting because of the glory, or image of God in each.

   It is the same in daily life. Do I look on each person that crosses my path with that "glory in you" attitude, or am I quick to critique their lives with my standard? Could I look on their lives, as I can see them, with the thought of ascertaining what could be right, instead of seeing someone to be corrected or changed?

   My professor, mentioned above, gave the challenge to each of the teachers he mentors, saying to them that if they faced each student in their classes, with these thoughts, their interactions could be positive rather than negative. Another paragraph from this same article:

   "I believe God has asked me to seek out and find the glory in the ruin of the people he sends my way in order to affirm and celebrate that glory. I do not need to ignore the ruin or pretend it is not there. Jesus certainly did not do that. But I do not think He brought life to people by primarily focusing on the ruin and instructing them on how to correct it. Rather, maybe He lived in the paradox of glory and ruin as the incarnation of who His Father is and brought about healing in a ruined world by loving and setting free the glory."

   Maybe it is seeing folks with a new attitude and a new set of lenses.