"Do you like theatre?" "Yes", he says. "Come see this." I say as I slide him one of our promo sheets for "Winter's Tale". "Shakespeare" he says, smiling a little. "Yes, & it's good Shakespeare too" "I'll be out of town" he replies, "but here's my email." A brief moment passes and I ask him what the attendant is printing for him, "Manuscripts" he says, "I need to get them to my producer & editor in the next two days." Brief shop talk about producing and fedex, "Oh! Fun, i'm an actor if you need a female, here's my resume" "How's your Scottish?" He asks me. "Prehty ghood" Laughing he bids me farewell & makes his way out of the Kinko's.
What a great conversation right? The Kinko's guy let him walk out the door before he ruined it with, "You know who that is, right?" "Nope, should I?" "Have you ever heard of 'Trainspotting'?"
I couldn't stop laughing. I emailed Irvine Welsh later that day and recounted my conversation with the Kinko's guy. He's back in Chicago now & about to open up a show at the Wit. It's funny. Up until that point in time I just met a nice man who had fond things to say about his wife and business partners. Who had published a novel & was working on the prequel. Who wanted to support our little theatre collective. How long could we have gone on before the ladder of apparent success would remove us from conversation? How often do we attribute this same altitude change to those around us?
Oh so and so has done this, is a part of this, runs this, makes this, has this, looks like this...that means they're blah blah blah and blah blah blah and I must treat them as blah blah blah.
Oh so and so has done this, is a part of this, runs this, makes this, has this, looks like this...that means they're blah blah blah and blah blah blah and I must treat them as blah blah blah.
I have a few close friends who are on the same page with me in this arena. They will walk up to anyone at anytime and strike up a conversation. Frankly the more popular a person is, personally speaking, the more established a person is the more likely I am to talk to them. If I'm on this "social ladder" that man has created to establish specific roles in society, I might as well keep climbing and complete destroy it. ;)
I am clearing the rungs off the social ladder & turning it into a giant tuning fork of Jesus love!
I am choosing NOT to see eye to nose with people. Eye to eye only, and it goes both ways:
What Would Jesus Deserve?
I am clearing the rungs off the social ladder & turning it into a giant tuning fork of Jesus love!
I am choosing NOT to see eye to nose with people. Eye to eye only, and it goes both ways:
What Would Jesus Deserve?
What WOULD Jesus deserve? THAT is the initiation of action. What would lavish love deserving of the God who sacrificed Himself for my fate? That is the blank check that can be written to anyone at any time, that will extend the grace & strength & peace that God has given to us through Jesus Christ. Raise the love stakes people. It means I can thank the gross cab driver for taking me home. It means I can offer a listening ear to friends. It means I can do all those things in the manner worthy of my calling as a follower of Christ, by treating each and every person as though I were with Christ Himself. Which I am, because He lives inside of me. :)
It means that I can carry on a light hearted conversation with anyone at anytime and name drop God without fear or question. It also means people look at you weird. It means that your soul & heart must be firmly rooted in Christ Jesus, and your strength & wisdom must come from scripture. It means that you may not always get the same response, a welcomed response, or something from a situation. But it's about obedience, not sacrifice, and so who really cares- you can be obedient. You can't sacrifice something you don't have in the first place.
In fact, the obedience comes in treating every person you meet as Christ. Please still test everything and retain what is good be wise as serpents and gentle as lambs. Christians, please leave your brains on and engage in reality more often than not. Next time you're faced with a situation ask yourself, "What Would Jesus Deserve". Forget about the outcome, and remember time is irrelevant. All of these things are taken care of In Christ. & sometimes those "things" include becoming pen pals with a really famous writer.
Matthew 6:30-33
30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
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