I have spent the first 24 years of my life becoming a realist,
yet I’ve been learning over the last four months that God is an idealist. The truth of the matter is that I have not
lived a hard life. Nevertheless, I’ve
been exposed to enough to know that the black and white world that I grew up in
contains more grays and hues than I want to imagine. (If you haven’t read To Kill a Mockingbird, or don’t remember it that well, I highly
recommend you take the time.) Decisions
are rarely a clear “yes” or “no.”
Integrity is often compromised for the sake of convenience and
self-preservation. Cultural conditions
and belief systems provide alternate perspectives to the same situation,
allowing for two or more completely logical conclusions.
My two years in an inner-city classroom changed my
understanding of how difficult progress truly can be. I have a deeper appreciation of the advice
not to “bite the hand that feeds you,” now.
I entered teaching with the goal to help change the nation’s education
system, but now I look back and question whether or not I helped change an
individual child’s future.
The words, “I’m not a pessimist; I’m a realist,” have exited
my mouth before. I walk this earth with
an optimistic attitude, giving people the benefit of the doubt, but too many
doubts piled up over years have not benefited me. Even outside of my life, older more
experienced, enlightened, and aware realists cast shadows and darken my dimming
horizon with their nuggets, dug from the hardened soil of life.
I’m doubtful that he’s Republican, American, white, or
private-school educated, but could it be that God’s an idealist? Could it be that He is the hope when all else
is lost? Could it be that He sees the redemptive
qualities in every situation? Could it
be that with God I have the permission to dream? I don’t mean dreams out of alignment with the
delights of His heart. I mean dream
without apprehensive clauses such as, “But if that doesn’t work out, I’ll
settle for less.” I mean dream casting
aside the logical lessons of the past, and trust the heart of God more than the
mind of man.
I’m a doubter. My
Myers Briggs result of ESTJ is heavy on the T(hinking), so I’ve anticipate the
retorts. But what if? What if we prayed for the best? What if we
dreamed for the ultimate? What if we
lived with a firm hope in the ideal?
Yes, we are human, but we are also the bride of Christ. The church that the darkness recedes
from. We are light.
The more I see and experience, the less I understand. So much of this temporal journey seems to
prod, pull, and persuade us to harness our passions, reevaluate our hopes, and
lower our standards. How fitting, then,
that our counter-cultural God would encourage the complete opposite.
Comments: What do you think? Is God an idealist? If so, does that give us free reign to think
so as well? What about when the
realities of life smack you upside the head?
**Thanks extended to DJ Kelley for the lovely photographs.
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