Likenesses
Many decades ago one of my best friends (I'll call her Mary) confided to me that she could hardly stand another girl we both knew. Mary, who was conscientious, felt guilty about this of course, but felt even worse that she was hearing from lots of other people that the disliked girl reminded them of my friend Mary. What does one do with information like that? I must look to to other people like that girl I can't stand looks to me.
I remember a time when, in the same teacher's convention weekend, two people told me who one of the speakers reminded them of. One of them said the speaker reminded her of me. The other said the speaker reminded him of someone else--someone I knew he found quite trying. When I processed a conflation of the two comments I thought Oh dear. Does he find me as trying as he thinks she is?
Usually when people tell me they've met someone who reminds them of me, I believe they intend it as a compliment, or at least not a slam.
When I first heard from two of my former housemates that Elisabeth Elliot reminded them of me, I felt really honored, since she is one of my favorite authors. I never met her till a number of years later, and after that, I felt even more honored, but I still think my kind friends overestimated me.
Recently one of those same friends told me they heard Sarah Palin speak, and my friend thinks I am a lot like her. The reasons she thought so thankfully did not include Palin's credits as a beauty queen, moose hunter, or NRA member. I can't wait to hear what Hiromi says about this comparison. He heard one of Palin's first candidate speeches at work during the noon hour and was primarily impressed with her strong personality, voice, and stance. (He is not politically involved in any way.)
I do remember that Hiromi once told me he always wanted to marry a strong woman, but I can't quite imagine that he thinks I am on par with Sarah Palin on the "strength" issue. He knows for sure that I am a wimp when it comes to killing animals or using a gun for any reason, and when pressed for words to describe me, one of the only ones he can seem to come up with is "kind." So maybe he'll give me a pass on the Sarah Palin-strong characterization.
Joel guffawed loudly when I told him about my friend's comparison. (Now, was that nice?) I told him what attributes were not referred to in her comments, and when I told him what my friend actually said, he responded by saying diplomatically "I'm not sure that she's that intellectual." (Just for the record, I decided a long time ago that I am not intellectual, based on how quickly I get bored by some of the deep discussions I have overheard among true intellectuals. Ideas divorced from people and real life are not easy for me to contemplate.)
What a hoot!
Joel suggested that I go to youtube and type in Couric Palin to watch an interview Couric conducted. I'm not sure I have the courage. I think the "family-centered, intellectual, and having the courage of conviction" characterizations might be more to my liking than some of the things I would personally observe in a recorded interview.
On to better things. . . .Today I want to think about what God says is true of me--to "think soberly" of myself, as Romans 12 tells me I ought to do. Other people may be right or wrong, and we ourselves assuredly are often wrong in our estimation of ourselves, but God is never wrong. Studying our supposed likenesses in other people is probably no more helpful than studying our faces in a mirror and then going our way and forgetting what kind of persons we are. Always, the mirror of God's Word is accurate, and we do well to covet only the likeness of our perfect example, Jesus Christ.
I remember a time when, in the same teacher's convention weekend, two people told me who one of the speakers reminded them of. One of them said the speaker reminded her of me. The other said the speaker reminded him of someone else--someone I knew he found quite trying. When I processed a conflation of the two comments I thought Oh dear. Does he find me as trying as he thinks she is?
Usually when people tell me they've met someone who reminds them of me, I believe they intend it as a compliment, or at least not a slam.
When I first heard from two of my former housemates that Elisabeth Elliot reminded them of me, I felt really honored, since she is one of my favorite authors. I never met her till a number of years later, and after that, I felt even more honored, but I still think my kind friends overestimated me.
Recently one of those same friends told me they heard Sarah Palin speak, and my friend thinks I am a lot like her. The reasons she thought so thankfully did not include Palin's credits as a beauty queen, moose hunter, or NRA member. I can't wait to hear what Hiromi says about this comparison. He heard one of Palin's first candidate speeches at work during the noon hour and was primarily impressed with her strong personality, voice, and stance. (He is not politically involved in any way.)
I do remember that Hiromi once told me he always wanted to marry a strong woman, but I can't quite imagine that he thinks I am on par with Sarah Palin on the "strength" issue. He knows for sure that I am a wimp when it comes to killing animals or using a gun for any reason, and when pressed for words to describe me, one of the only ones he can seem to come up with is "kind." So maybe he'll give me a pass on the Sarah Palin-strong characterization.
Joel guffawed loudly when I told him about my friend's comparison. (Now, was that nice?) I told him what attributes were not referred to in her comments, and when I told him what my friend actually said, he responded by saying diplomatically "I'm not sure that she's that intellectual." (Just for the record, I decided a long time ago that I am not intellectual, based on how quickly I get bored by some of the deep discussions I have overheard among true intellectuals. Ideas divorced from people and real life are not easy for me to contemplate.)
What a hoot!
Joel suggested that I go to youtube and type in Couric Palin to watch an interview Couric conducted. I'm not sure I have the courage. I think the "family-centered, intellectual, and having the courage of conviction" characterizations might be more to my liking than some of the things I would personally observe in a recorded interview.
On to better things. . . .Today I want to think about what God says is true of me--to "think soberly" of myself, as Romans 12 tells me I ought to do. Other people may be right or wrong, and we ourselves assuredly are often wrong in our estimation of ourselves, but God is never wrong. Studying our supposed likenesses in other people is probably no more helpful than studying our faces in a mirror and then going our way and forgetting what kind of persons we are. Always, the mirror of God's Word is accurate, and we do well to covet only the likeness of our perfect example, Jesus Christ.
posted by Mrs. I at
6:07 AM
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