Out of the Wilderness

In a very light and slightly judgy situation, I was reminded of my favorite chapter in the entire Bible. I’ll leave it to you to look it up, but I’ll point you in the right direction at least… it’s between Psalm 140 and 146. There, that’ll give ya somethin’ to do after this!

The particular verse that came to my mind was one about God having compassion and mercy for everything He’s made. To confess honestly, I don’t have compassion and mercy for everything He’s made. This revelation came to light today at the dog park…

The story starts with me and my rule-following personality, which can definitely be a nuisance for me and anyone I annoy with my tattletaling. So I drive up to the dog park and within a stretch of about 60 or 70 feet of roadside grass, there are 2 signs which couldn’t say more clearly not to park on the grass. It’s not for me to understand why the city or county has made this a rule, but nonetheless the rule exists. So of course, there are going to be people that think rules don’t apply to them. The rebels.

Exhibit 1:

I happened to be parking (not on grass) as the black car pulled up to park. I immediately started making a mental list of burns I’d use about his idiotic disregard for the rules. Sidenote: I love making lists. I had time to cool off, though, while I was at the park with the dogs and that’s when I was reminded about God being patient and loving towards most things He made. Wait, I’m kidding, the Bible says all things. So if I’m striving to live a life pleasing to Him, I should be loving towards all things He’s made… but man some people make it a real chore! Like the owners of these two cars, who’s combined IQ, if converted to Fahrenheit, wouldn’t melt an ice cube.

And that red car is a Prius. Psssshhh, they don’t care about the earth at all, parking right on top of the lovely grass. #PriusFail

Later, I thought a better idea than using a snide remark would be to say something like, “Hey, not sure if you knew this but we’re not supposed to be parking on the grass.” Simple enough right? The tattooed Californian would then get all huffy and puffy (wouldn’t he?) and I’d explain by saying that “if we don’t abide by the rules set before us, that’s when privileges get taken away. You’ve been a 3-year-old before, right? It’s the same thing.” He’d be offended and for the rest of his days he’d think about how right he is for doing his own thing, for blazing his own path, for being a hero… or whatever.

But to circle back to the point of all this, I learned that even people that really annoy me are loved by God, and I should love them, too. Even if they’re idiots who drive a Prius or come from California.

-Out of the Wilderness