Another View
The old car shed is barely standing. She’s getting closer to the ground with each passing year.
The detaching tin roof looks like an old lady’s hat losing its grip—absent boards, like missing buttons on her faded dress. Pretty soon the old girl will completely disrobe and return to the ground.
I remember playing in, around, and, yes, even over the shed as a child. Early on, it held the family car- a white and yellow 1958 Ford. My daddy would announce, “Alright, I’m gonna get the car out now.” That meant he was ready to go, and we should be too. It almost never worked. To my mom, that meant ten more minutes. Looking back, I think he knew that and adjusted his announcement accordingly.
While visiting my childhood home, the discovery of the decaying shed saddened me. Abandoning my car, I walked around to the back of the building. Astounded, I saw an entirely different facade from the rear.
Yes, the shed was still
worn, but instead of
leaning to the side,
it appeared to be
perfectly upright.
To think that the same
shed could project two completely different views amazed me.
I think of the people that I encounter. What if the facade that I see is different if viewed from another angle? Am I guilty of looking at people or problems from only one perspective— the quick, easy view? Most people don’t allow for closer inspections, but how often do I take the time to try to observe from a different angle? How often do I take the answer, “I am fine,” as the truth?
In a lot of instances, I find that I let busyness persuade me to accept someone’s apparent condition with no thought of further pursuit. How many times have I encountered someone out shopping and stopped to share brief pleasantries, but nothing further?
“How are you?”
“Fine, and how are you?”
“I’m good. Just busy, busy, busy. You know how it is.”
“Yes, I do! Well, it was good to see you.”
“You too. Take care. Bye.”
And we walk on.
Recently, my friend gathered a group of women to meet for coffee and conversation. Women that you may see in passing, exchanging surface talk. Ladies from differing backgrounds, ages, ethnicities, and churches. Ladies that you might not take the time to get to know.
My friend was determined to reach out or walk behind the building, to see what was on the other side. We learned things about each other, struggles that we could share, and victories that had been won. Since we took the time to take another look, we gained encouragement and fellowship. We bonded through sharing, and we had to get outside of ourselves to share. We discovered that, in spite of our differing worlds of existence, we had a lot in common and a lot to say.
With my fast food mentality and FaceBook facade, how truthful am I? How many opportunities are lost to my selfishness? How many potential friends or opportunities will I walk by? Who could I have helped or encouraged by taking a closer look? Maybe no one. Maybe a lot. Going forward, I will endeavor to get out of myself and observe from another angle next time. The view is always worth the effort.
