Things are not as they appear

I remember it like it was yesterday (in truth it was over 20 years ago). I was calling roll as the 6th grade class sat on a set of old wooden bleachers in the gym at Norris Middle School where I was teaching at the time. It was a Monday morning and I had gotten a haircut over the weekend- a very short haircut in fact. Much to the displeasure of my wife Julie- I like short hair cuts. Julie's greatest objection to my short haircuts stems from the fact that I have this mole-

A Rather Large Mole

-sitting there for all the world to see on the left side of my head toward the rear. My mole does show a little (a lot) when I get one of my short haircuts. As I was going down through the list of names, I noticed out of the corner of my eye this one little girl sitting to my left about 3 rows up- I noticed her because as the other kids were sitting sort of blank faced or whispering to one another as they normally would during roll call- this one little girl was staring intently at me. As I looked up to make eye contact with this child her right arm slowly began to rise as she pointed her index finger directly at me. With an expression somewhere between terror and amazement and screamed out, " Ooooh, Ooooh, Coach Welch, you got a tick in yo head!" Poor child- What she thought she saw- in fact what looked so real to her and sent her into a "tizzy" at that moment was not at all what it appeared to be. Poor me- What I think is true-in fact what seems so real to me in this world is often upside down and backwards from reality-Eternal Reality. 2 Corinthians 4:18 "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, for what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 1 Corinthians 1:27 - 28 " But God chose what appeared to the world as foolish to shame the wise. He chose what appeared to be weak to this world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things, the despised- the things that appear to be nothing to shame the things this wold views as important." Matthew 20:26 Jesus said, " Whoever wants to be great among you must become your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave- just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many." I spend so much time and energy in the "tizzy" of trying to be wise and first and important in this world's eyes. Father forgive me for so much wasted effort. Help me today and every day to see what is real- what is true- to fix my eyes on what matters for eternity even when I look foolish in this world. Give me courage to overcome my great fear of appearing foolish. Work in me for humility to overcome my need to appear strong and in control and independent. Continually work out the Heart of Jesus in me for Loving and Serving those you bring my way. Amen