Taste and See: Jesus in Disguise

I love Brandon Heath's song Jesus in Disguise. I heard on the radio that the song was based on a quote from Mother Teresa.

The dying, the cripple, the mental, the unwanted, the unloved

they are Jesus in disguise. ~Mother Teresa

I happened to look it up on Friday so it was on my mind. Fast forward to Sunday morning. I listened to some of James Merritt's sermon and it was from one of my favorite passages Deuteronomy 6:5-9 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

His emphasis was ALL. We are to love God with ALL our heart, soul and strength.

So, I've always heard that a gage of how much we love God

is how much we love and treat people.

There was this guy in church Sunday. He had been there before. He used to come on Wednesdays a few years ago. He wore a back brace and was all humped over. He was...how shall I say it? Weird...he was weird. So, he was at church sitting where we normally sit. Not that that is a problem. Tim had moved to the back. When we were singing I could see him well since I was with the choir. I saw him moving his hands, etc. I just diverted my eyes. We finished singing and I went to sit down. It wasn't long until this guy was talking out loud while Tommy was preaching. I thought maybe he was reading his Bible. I got irritated to say the least. He was distracting. I can't imagine how the woman sitting in front of him felt. I wrote Tim a note and said if I was sitting there I would go mad! he had all these pieces of paper written all over. He would talk then be quiet and seem to be listening then crank up again. Thank goodness Tommy was loud. Then I thought of the quote...the dying, the cripple, the mental. Jesus in disguise. Wow!! Not only was I distracted and irritated by this guy, I was indignant. Seriously, the only way to describe his behavior was rude or something wasn't quite right with him. So, I'm thinking the "mental" fit him and I didn't have an ounce of compassion because he bothered me. So, back to James Merritt's message I had just heard that morning. I was supposed to love God with ALL my heart, soul and strength. That included the strange guy at church. I realized quickly I have a long long way to go........... Don't get me wrong. I did go shake this guy's hand after church and tell him I was glad to see him at church. But I told Tim if he comes next week and I am sitting close to him I might have to shoosh him like a sweet little old granny would do. ;)

These pictures have nothing to do with my story but I did want to post them. They are from a recent drive to Flag Rock, High Knob and Bark camp Lake. Ahhh, how I love a drive along country roads away from everything. This is just what we needed that day and it was perfect weather! It was so quiet at Bark camp Lake. The only thing we could hear was water rushing through a drain at the end of the lake. I don't know the last time I was somewhere so quiet. I hope we can drive back up during the fall to view the leaves.