Last week my son was teased by a few guys who assumed something about him which was untrue. It was weird because when he came home and told me about it my blood boiled! I mean for one, I realised just how much I cared for my son's heart condition because I couldn't bear to see his eyes fill up with tears and hear his throat choke up. The other thing that was upsetting was that people had just assumed something when they absolutely did not know the true story. They hadn't walked in his shoes, they hadn't experienced what he had and they definitely were not a part of his life back then so in my estimate they had no business commenting on it.
After my blood returned to regular temperature I got around to thinking of all the times I had made assumptions of others. Heck, the times I have made assumptions about God- he may not care about this little detail of my life, he can't possibly be able to right this wrong, he cares more for them than he does about me etcetera etcetera. Coming back to my assumptions about people (because God takes care of himself just fine) I can't keep track of how many times I just made up a person's story in my head to explain why they acted the way they did or said the things they said. It helped me get over things momentarily but my assumptions of them stuck like pesky bubble gum on a shoe! The impressions it left me with were less than savoury,
Like someone once said 'To assume is to make an ass of you and me'. I don't know if it's definition worthy but it sure gives us a heads up on the futility of assumption.
Assumption I think, presses a mute button on relationships. We close up our ears and eyes to the things being communicated and stay fond of our already drawn conclusions!
Assumption also ignores process and focuses entirely on the present. A person's journey will tell us of where they have been and the situations that shaped them into the individuals they are today. If I look at what I see today and make my judgements based on that, I negate the power of their journey.
If I want to be accepted without assumption I must extend the same courtesy to others.
Every relationship must be emptied of assumptions and instead be filled with Grace.
The grace to accept there may be mistakes past and present.
The grace to accept not knowing everything about someone.
The grace to accept people as they are, wonky attitudes and all.
I hope my son extends that grace to those he meets throughout his life! He will be better for it!
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
/1x.jpeg?auto=webp)
/1x.jpeg?auto=webp)
/1x.jpeg?auto=webp)
/1x.jpeg?auto=webp)
/1x.jpeg?auto=webp)
/1x.jpeg?auto=webp)