Jun
3
2022
The Sidewalk Prophet
Posted in Daily Living 2 Comments
I saw it on my morning walk.
A chalk pavement picture drawn on a driveway.
I know the house; I know that there are four children living there.
I tried to guess which one drew the picture.
The picture was a large flower.
A happy flower, I would say.
Large daisy like petals, with a long stem and green leaves.
The flower covered the width of the driveway.
I remember the chalk pavement pictures on our driveway years ago.
They would last until the rain washed them away.
The artist would be quite sad that their masterpiece was no more.
Another would be drawn and the process continued.
After my children were grown, the masterpieces on the driveway were a thing of the past.
Then grandchildren arrived and the cycle is beginning again.
Stick figures depicting the family is a favorite thing to draw.
Writing their name in chalk is quite an accomplishment.
There is something so soothing about chalk pavement pictures.
They are signs of life in that house.
They are marks of childhood.
They are creativity poured out for all to see.
The large flower with daisy like petals made me smile.
If if had seen the mom outside the house, I would have told her.
I would have told her to thank the one who draw the picture that made me smile.
I would have told her that the flower with the daisy like petals made my day.
A few days after that particular walk, I noticed another chalk pavement picture.
This one was drawn in the street in front of the same house.
This one took up a good portion of the road.
This one was meant to be seen.
Two words.
Two words I had to read upside down, since I was walking in the other direction.
Two very important words.
Be kind.
Those two words made me ponder.
Seemingly simple, yet so difficult in our current culture.
Those two words couldn’t have been more powerful.
Perhaps the fact that the next rain would erase them, made me feel their urgency.
Be kind.
Oh, if only…
What if we all promised to do just that?
What if we all decided that this other way is not working?
All the arguing is getting us nowhere.
All the finger pointing is demeaning.
All the categories are separating us more than ever.
All the bad mouthing and presuppositions make us unable or unwilling to really see each other.
Be kind.
The sidewalk prophet had spoken.
A child decided to teach me a thing or two.
We are all humans, made in the image of God.
We live on this earth together.
Why can’t we get along?
The two words: Be kind.
Is it even possible?
Do we even know how?
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)
God’s Word tells us what it is and what it isn’t.
What is the, it, God’s Word speaks of?
It is love.
What if we followed all the is and isn’t in this verse, concerning love?
Love does not envy or boast.
Love is not arrogant or rude.
Love does not insist on its own way.
Love is not irritable or resentful.
Love does not rejoice in wrongdoing.
Love is patient and kind.
Love rejoices with the truth.
Love bears all things and believes all things.
Love hopes all things and endures all things.
Love never ends.
Love never ends.
Be kind.
The sidewalk prophet has spoken.
It is possible because we have One who has gone before us who is love incarnate.
God is love. (1 John 4:16)
The rain washed the two words away.
They linger in my mind and in my heart.
Lord, help me to live it out.
Lord, help me to be kind because the world needs to see a better way.
Beautiful post–so true! I look forward to heaven where we will be kind to one another! I wish people now would live this way.
Amen, Sue. Perhaps, in the meantime, we can do our little bit to show kindness and the love of Christ to others.
Gina