When I was in college, I was very into writing poetry. I took a couple of poetry classes in college and I wanted to connect my love for writing and my love for filming. Therefore, I started recording a poem I wrote each Friday. I enjoyed this project and it pushed me in many ways. I created over 100 videos of poems I had written. It was about a 2 year long series. I called it Give Me a Hot Minute.
The idea was that each video was around 1 minute, although I never really stayed in that time constraint. My first poem video I did was titled Thoughts Run Rapid. You can still see the video on my personal youtube channel: https://youtu.be/Hjg7qXF4Ydo?si=ygfmvzBxzFOSQp9S
To be honest, I cringe a little watching myself on screen. I know a lot people don't like to see themselves talk on camera. Now whether younger Adam got the message across that he wanted to I'm not sure. But, I bring up this older video because I think a part of it rings true today.
This week, I was in Indy for a few meetings and afterwards I decided to do some shopping. In particular, my sister wanted this pink fluffy jacket from a clothing store at a fancy mall in the Indy area. Since I live closer to Indy than her, I agreed to pick it up for her. The problem was, I didn't have a picture of the jacket.
I went in the store and immediatly I went to the left of the store. I found myself next to womans underwear. I knew I was in the wrong area. Thankfully, a nice store clerk must have seen my confusement and hopelessness, and she came to my aid. I will be honest, she was a very attractive woman as well as extremely nice. As many men before me have said, "it's every man's battle".
She helped me find the jacket and it was a sucess. After that, I met up with a good friend and told him, "dude, I just met a hot girl at this store!" Now this all sounds kinda high schoolish and looking back it really was. But immediatly my brain reoriented to something more profound.
Thoughts run rapid. They spew into different directions creating tangles and weaves not antcipated by the thinker. The cultivation of a thought can be a slippery slope to caverns of selfishness.
I thought, "why was my first discription of this girl her 'hot looks'? Why did I not first focus on her compassion and kindess to me in doing her job well? Why was my first discription based on a selfish ambition of getting some pleasure that is one sided and childish?"
To bring this all in, beauty is a gift from God. I believe it is good and right to appreciate beauty in its diversity. But, beauty and lusting are very different. The tricky thing is, cultivation of both starts with a thought. We all have first thoughts, but the second and third thoughts are the ones that should concern us most. Because those are the thoughts we choose to linger on. And sometimes tell others.
Looking back, I wish I would have explained to my good friend a more mature, gentleman like representation of who this woman truly is. I don't know her, but regardless of that, she deserved a better description. We all do.
It is ok to see someone as beautiful. Let me get that out of the way. But think, what character is built by focusing on a woman's 'hotness'?
I have goals, dreams, family, friends, and community. So does the store clerk. She is more than a pretty face. She is an image bearer of the God I serve. I pray that not just in my interactions with such public am I respectful and Christ-like, but that in private I am acting the same.
Thoughts do run rapid. And praise God there is grace and mercy when they run rapid down the wrong stream. I know that each day and each moment builds character based off our choices. It cultivates our life trajectory, impacting the big moments if you will in life. Big moments don't necessarly make us, they just reveal the character we built over time. Thoughts that we thought, turned into actions.
So let our thoughts be rooted in caution. Rooted in maturity. Rooted in a patience that cultivates the image of God in all whom we may come across. Thus, bearing a sacrifical life and deserting seeds of selfishness in our character forming thoughts.
Comments