The Invisible Man
The Invisible Man huh? Sounds a little cartoony or maybe straight out of a superhero movie? Well that’s not exactly the invisible man I’m referring to. The invisible man I speak of can be our next door neighbor, our co-worker, the person sitting next to us at church, or even the one we work out with at the gym.
The invisible man can be anyone.
About two weeks ago we were in Orlando on a short weekend vacation. As we were hunting down a place to go for breakfast, we exited the highway and came to a stop light right at the bottom. Now this was no ordinary light. In fact, to call it long is an understatement. We sat at the light and it wasn’t until several minutes later, just as the light was about to turn green, that I noticed someone who had been standing there the whole time. He tiredly held up his cup and just as I took notice of him, Rain asked from the back seat if we could give him some change.
How could I have possibly not noticed him? He was in my face the whole time and I would hardly say he was easy to miss.
But just as Rain filled his cup and he stood at our car window, I caught sight of something even harder to miss than his physical self; the pain in his eyes.
Now, G-d truly has a sense of humor! It seemed that for the rest of the week following that incident, I continued to run into invisible men and women everywhere.
About 2 days later as I scrolled down my FB news feed, I came across a picture of someone I hadn’t seen in a long time. In fact, it had been so long that I had forgotten we were friends on FB. But when I read the post more carefully I realized it was a memorial. How could it be? We taught the same grade level, were classroom neighbors, laughed and had lunch together. What did I miss? Had she always suffered from this depression…the one that would lead her to take her own life?
There are invisible men and women everywhere. Some blend in with our city streets such as this homeless man and yet others blend in with the crowd. Some function in society and others don’t. But the pain is just as real for both. It’s a pain that masquerades itself with smiles and normality, and fears being discovered because of what “they” might think.
It’s a deep rooted, raw pain. One that if left undisturbed will grow and grow and choke the life out of its host.
Its antidote is a well-adjusted mind. The kind that comes only from guarding ours because everything we do flows from it (Proverbs 4:23).
If you are living with this kind of pain today, know it is not G-d’s fullest plan for you. Reach out to those around you and come out of the shadows.
– No matter who they are or where they come from, every person on earth has two identities. The way they see themselves and the way the world sees them. I pray your eyes would be open to the invisible people around you and that you would offer a hand of hope.
A Pinch of Desire
Those who know me can tell you that I am not a “cook”. The kitchen is the last place you can willingly find me, but of course out of obligation < husband and two lady bugs that insist on eating everyday> I do spend a lot of time there. However, on occasion I have to admit that a good recipe catches my eye, and since it seems that recipes are floating all around social media, I get inspired to make my way into the kitchen and experiment. Because even us “non-cookers” have our occasional motivation!
So I’d like to share with you today a recipe you might find useful. I hope it gets you cookin’, though not necessarily in the kitchen. Please make a note of the following items that you will need for this recipe:
INGREDIENTS:
-
A pinch of Desire
-
½ teaspoon of faith
-
1 heaping cup of effort
-
1 ½ cups of persistence
DIRECTIONS:
- Any good cook can tell you that all good recipes begin as a thought before they ever hit the kitchen table. Have you ever had an idea, thought, concept, or something you’ve wanted to do but has never matured past the state of being just that; an idea? If you have, you’re in the right company. It is this idea that will be your “pinch of desire” in this recipe. Because every big plan starts off as a small idea first. Oh, and don’t let the “pinch” fool you. Some of the best recipes most important ingredient is the smallest in dose.
- And speaking of small doses, we will need to add ½ teaspoon of faith to our pinch of desire.
Faith, like baking powder, will act as our leavening agent in this recipe.
Once we put it into the mix, it will grow the dream. It will make our desire rise and reach its maximum potential. We don’t need a lot of it to begin with because
faith is one of those unique ingredients that multiplies itself.
- Once those two ingredients are mixed, set them aside and in another bowl add 1 cup of effort. You will need an electric mixer or you can mix it by hand. Keep beating the effort until all clumps are gone. You may get tired of mixing but keep going and give it all you’ve got. You must fully exert yourself and put in all your energy. Don’t mix it on low, make sure the setting is on high. (Warning: This is the point you may begin to feel like giving up because it no longer feels like fun but instead feels like work…keep pushing).
- While continuing to beat the effort, slowly begin to add 1 ½ cups of persistence. Mix it in at a consistent pace. Making sure that the persistence is equally measured and you are not putting in more at the beginning than at the end.
- Mix all ingredients together and put it in to bake. The temperature will rise and test your dedication, commitment, and patience. But whatever you do, do not pull it out until it’s done! Set the timer on, and when it goes off you will have taken a pinch of desire and turned it into an accomplished dream!
Enjoy!