profiling…

a final sign that anybody you’ve ever met has hanging around their neck is scenic route.

this takes a moment of explanation. typically, we’ll see this sign when we’re cruising down the freeway going about 75 miles an hour (unless you have a permit license driver in the car with you!). at 75, everything out of your peripheral vision is blurry because you’re going so fast and then that sign appears. you know what it’s really saying. it’s saying, “slow down and take a look.” it’s saying, “hey buddy, hey gal! there’s a lot here to see if you’ll only take the time.”

it’s the sign hanging on the neck of every person you’ve ever locked eyes with. it says, “slow down. take the time to see me how GOD sees me.”

looking beyond exterior things and seeing the real worth of a person is the theme of some movies a few years back. i don’t know if you saw the movie shallow hal, but that was the premise of that movie. it’s seeing the inner beauty of a person and not paying attention to the exterior shallow things. the movie shrek is about this woman who was afraid, if you really saw who i was, you wouldn’t like me. but when the guy sees who she is, he does like her still. it’s that ability to see beyond.

look what the bible says in romans 12.16 (msg), get along with each other. don’t be stuck up. make friends with nobodies. don’t be the great somebody. or ephesians 4.2 (nlt), be humble and gentle. be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.

there’s a controversial discussion going in america these days. it’s the discussion around the word “profiling.” i understand why the discussion is happening. but i detest the idea that’s behind it. i can’t say strongly enough how wrong i feel that is. yet i’m honest enough to know – and i hope you are – that you and i do this with great regularity. we diminish people or we overlook people because they have certain physical characteristics or certain personality traits or they come from a different economic background or have lesser educational achievements or they’re wearing a different colored skin. we sort of categorize and overlook and disrespect, and in our minds we say, “they are less than we are.” we make those value judgments all the time. i hate that when i see it in me. i hate it when i see it anywhere.

just a thought from the front porch…