The love of God and others
December 12, 2008 (Friday)
The very entertaining “My Fair Lady” appeared yesterday on Turner Classic Movies. A musical based on a play, “Pygmalion,” itself inspired by ancient Greek mythology in which a king became a sculptor, made a statue and fell in love with it. The musical is a more down to earth story of an uneducated, uncultured young woman who became a fine lady. She gave the credit to a gentleman who looked at the flower girl and saw a lady. In other words, she became what a friend saw in her and expected her to be. I never tire of the musical. I love it.
I suppose one reason I like it so well is that I can identify with the poor person who gained self-respect because of what someone saw in her. Of course, more than anyone, it is the Lord Himself who loves me just as I am and inspires me to want to become what he wants me to become. But along life’s way he also used many others who let me know from time to time that they saw in me something I did not see myself. They encouraged me to discover the self that God created and to develop the talents and gifts He gave me.
Browning Ware preached a sermon one day that I heard with great interest, in which he compared his life to the Rio Grande River, which begins in Colorado as a little trickle of a stream, and finally arrives at the Gulf of Mexico as a mighty river, because along the way it is fed by other streams that become a part of it. Each of us has a similar testimony because many people have contributed much to our lives, and one of their greatest contributions was helping us to believe in God’s love for us. That great love has inspired us and transformed us. We are not the same today as we once were, and the reason is that somebody cared enough to encourage us along life’s pathway. They joined us in our journey. We could not have made it without them.