I hope not many of you recognize who this old woman really is but I can't make my point unless I tell you. Okay, it is a picture of me, Marilyn, the author of the book I've Always Been Rich. One course I took in Seminary was on how we could better relate to and understand the older people we would be working with in our ministry. The assignment given was to make ourselves look older (me, I was 60 so not much had to be changed) and see how people reacted when they saw me crossing a street, buying items in a store and other ordinary activities. The picture shows how I choose to do this. My husband went with me and we did the ordinary things we normally did but with a much disguised look. I must admit I did not feel comfortable in with the "normal" people as they would stare, laugh, and deliberately talk about us. I was glad when I could become a younger person again. Their perception of me was not what I really was.
And that is an important lesson I learned the night we did this assignment. Things are not always how they look. I tried to develop that concept in my book by being very honest with myself and with the reader. I do not want to portray something that I am not. But just as importantly I do not want to make judgment on others who I only know by what I see. My appearance in the picture appears to be that of someone who is physically compromised, has no dressing savvy and shouldn't be out at night anyway. And that may be what I portrayed but was it true? Did anyone attempt to assist me, did any one have a sincere smile for me, did anyone try to make a conversation with me? NO! I'm making a point with the picture above that this happens only to those who have seen many years of living but again that is only a perception. As I work as a Chaplain I see beauty, kindness, loneliness, sorrow, scruffy individual, all races and diverse ethnic background people, people who smell and those who are too sick to care how they look. I see wealthy and poor, , single and family people. incarcerated and free, Christian and pagan, yes, a microcosm of what the world looks like. My perspective of some of them may be very skewed. Their perception of me may be equally skewed. They suspect I am there to lay a sermon on them for what they have done wrong. However, I cannot come into the room worrying about what they perceive. Because really I am not representing myself when I come in the door of their room but I am representing the Lord who has called me to this ministry and wants me to emanate the character of Jesus. Now I have to rely on prayer for every call because I do not feel worthy of representing Christ in that way but He has called me and I must, somehow, show that to the people I see. How is that done? I am humbled that Jesus has given me a love for all the diverse people I visit. And if I don't portray love when I step in the door I might as well not even go further into the room. They all understand love and, conversely, they understand disgust or callousness toward them.
The Bible is very definite about that, we ALL are created in God's image. The term may be a little ambiguous to us but basically it means that we are to resemble God and be reflections of His glory. Humankind are made in "God's image" and that characteristic makes the distinction between mankind and all animals, In Galatians 3:28 we read "there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slaves or free, there is no male or female, for all are one in Christ Jesus. No matter what our perception of those we meet they were all made by our Creator and are all in need of a Savior. And just as importantly, no matter what vocation , what education, what our backgrounds we are all to be imitators of Christ if we have truly accepted Him as our Lord and Savior. Perception-a power o see what is not evident to the average mind. By dressing like I did in the picture above I proved my perception of what I thought an older person was like. It was basically wrong. I proved my own point, Now I hope you and I will take more time to not only perceive but to truly understand the people we meet every day, those behind a mask or those who reach out in need.
Marilyn Rensink mjrevmo6@aol.com Look for my name on google and read more about the book. It is available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.com God Bless you all.
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