Tilting And Stacking

I saw her name on a friend’s post.
She had just reacted to the same thing that caught my eye as well.
I had not thought about her in years.
Yet she was very special to our family.

I was not sure if it was her.
People can have the same name.
I clicked on her name.
I saw her profile picture.

It was the same sweet woman from all those years ago.
It was at least twenty years since I had seen her.
The face and the smile were the same.
Without giving it another thought, I sent her a friend request.

Later that night, as I was closing my laptop, I saw that she had accepted my friend request.
I decided to send her a private message.
I would give her a quick synopsis of the children she knew so well.
She knew all five of them but only had four of them in school.

This sweet woman was a preschool teacher.
She became the director of the preschool that my children attended.
By the time my youngest daughter went to preschool, the sweet woman we loved had left.
When she left, the school was not the same and we missed her.

We have pictures of this precious woman leading the children on harvest day.
We have stories of the many things she taught them.
I still remember something she said at a welcome night when school began.
I will believe half of what they say about you if you believe half of what they say about me.

We all laughed.
There was such truth to her words.
Our oldest daughter proved that right away.
She heard the teasing that went on between my husband and I after his birthday.

Since my husband was born in March and I was born in July, I teased him about being younger.
We are the same age.
We were in the same class in high school.
However, for four wonderful months, he was the older one.

Our daughter told her teacher that her mom was married to an older man.
When we went to our first preschool production, everyone seemed quite surprised.
We never knew until later that they expected an older man and a younger woman.
They just got us.

I have carried the sweet woman’s words with me in life as well.
Do we really think about our words?
Do we think about the potential damage they cause even with the best of intentions?
I remember advice I was given before I got married.

Never dishonor your husband, one wise woman said.
Even if you’re angry, especially then, be careful what you say to other people about him.
They will formulate opinions based on your words.
Your husband will never have a chance to redeem himself.

I took her words to heart and pondered them many times.
In anger, we never make the person with whom we are angry look very favorable.
We use no holds barred, toss the meat to the dogs kind of words.
However, when the emotions cool off and we have moved on, they remember our words.

The person we talked about has no chance of redemption.
The person we talked about has been presented on a tilted platter.
The person we talked about has everything stacked against them.
The person we talked about never stood a chance.

If we are honest, we are all guilty of this from time to time.
We have stacked the decks with those we love.
We have tilted the platter with our friends.
We have tossed the meat to the dogs.

We feel better.
Our words float around like dirty soot.
Our words stick and are not easily forgotten.
And we wonder why the listener acts differently around the subject of our tirade.

We have not been fair.
We have not been just.
We banged the gavel and declared a verdict with our words.
Guilty as charged, says one person only.

But there are two people.
In fact, there are really Three.
Our tirade is heard.
The situation that provoked us was seen and heard.

The One who has every right to judge, already has.
On a Friday, on a hill called Calvary, judgment was rendered.
It did not float in the air like soot.
The judgment was placed upon the innocent Lamb that took our place.

God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

We, who feel so outraged and want to decide an appropriate punishment, were shown grace.
We, who think we know all the ins and outs of a situation, see only a glimpse of the picture.
We throw our stones, yet are filled with our own sin.
We talk about who deserves what, but we forget.

How we forget.

The One who should have remained in Heaven with His Father came down.
The One who is Lord took on the nature of a servant.
The One who deserves to be worshiped was spit upon.
The One who knew no sin and deserved no punishment was beaten, flogged, and crucified.

We forget.
The One who sees, the One who hears, the One who knows is not the One who tells.
He never stacks the decks or tosses the meat of our flesh to the dogs.
The Holy One of God came to save.

One Day, He will come back.
Until that Day, there is time for salvation.
On the Day He returns, the time will be up.
The tirade of His wrath on that Day is justified.

His wrath is the only tirade that is justified.
We know nothing except for the little bit that affects us.
Even that is a mere eye-blink of the true story.
The One who knows, shows restraint until that Day.

Why do we feel we must have our boxing gloves on at all times?
Why are we not extending the grace we have received?
Do we forget that by honoring and respecting others, we are honoring and respecting Him?
Can we stop tilting and stacking long enough to put our hand over our mouth?

I will believe half of what they say about you if you believe half of what they say about me.
We have such a limited view of things.
God sees the whole picture, knows the whole heart, and searches the whole mind.
Our job is simply to respect each other well and leave the outcome in God’s hands.