Prophetess Tanya Maryoung, Contributing Editor of The Flow, Newsletter for Rivers of Living Water Family Worship Center Vanessa Brown
 

"Rivers of Living Water Family Worship Center is a  Christ Centered, Non-Denominational, Open and Affirming Spiritual Family. Our Mission is to build up the body of Christ by spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all people in our immediate community, state and all nations, bringing healing, wholeness and freedom through the dynamic ministry of the Holy Spirit"


Worth waiting For
Often times people judge a book by its cover.  This can be a deceiving and disturbing happening.  So often you see a person driving in a fine car, wearing the latest fashion, nails and hair clean and finely cut.  What does all of this mean if one is rickety on the inside and not internally fortified!  It does not mean much.  This is sadly the truth.  It happens more times than not!

The same holds true for those who appear to be "down & out".  Sometimes a person may be at a transitional space in their life, a valley if you will and on the outside they look like a "nothing" or an "undesirable".  Judgement and condemnation can slip so easily from the mouth or jar the mind with unsettling preconceptions.  "Why is he sleeping outside, why can't he just get a job?"  "She lost her children, she should never get them back!"  "She's wearing the same run down shoes again, God can't she get another pair?!"  "Oodles of noodles, that's ridiculous!"

What do we know?  What do we ever know about the next man?  Many of us are one paycheck from being homeless ourselves.  If we were to lose our jobs, for many there is no nest egg or cushion to fall back on.  It would be great to have a trust fund with family that can set your financial woes at ease but for the great many that are living in this world today we can't brag on having a last name like: Trump, Rockefeller, Gates, Winfrey, Hilton, etc. 

I have had some major blows myself where my mind could not fathom the solutions to a brighter tomorrow.  When one experiences loss of any kind whether it be through death, divorce, separation, illness or a sudden deflation of self it may take a person some time to walk through it all or find their way back. 

There was a very profound movie starring Don Cheatle and Adam Sandler entitled, "Reign on Me".  The protagonist, played by Sandler is a dentist who loses his wife and children in a fatal plane crash.  This loss turned a powerfully vibrant and mentally viable public servant into a disturbed, dysfunctional, almost child-like individual.  From the trauma he lost his zeal for life, even a reason to "be" or exist.  His hygiene was not a priority and triggers that would remind the man of his deceased family would cause him to go into a dark chaotic, mental abyss.

He looked like a "vagrant", a "bumb" , a "low-life" , a "no body".  His behaviour and appearance could very well suggest that he was a savant or autistic or simply MR (mentally retarded) inclined.  But the truth was this man was a highly educated man, married to a beautiful, loving wife, with three lovely and nurtured children.  Even the dog lost his life.  How could this man or anyone for that matter reconcile such tragic loss?  How do you "resume" your life after such tragedy?  What life could he conjur up?  I would suspect death to be a great consideration for this man.  Who would not consider this option?

The Internet Movie Database (IMD) sums up the plot of this story as:
 A man who lost his family in the September 11 attack on New York City runs into his old college roommate. Rekindling the friendship is the one thing that appears able to help the man recover from his grief.

Grief can cause you to travel so far away from "self".  Who tends to want to know or to find out why people hurt, why they lash out, why they shut down, why they regress or back up from life.  While we shake our heads, frown, and cross our hands in treacherous judgement, remember the scripture that says, "Judge not lest you be judged."  The perceptions that we have may be so far from the truth but how does a man quantify, qualify and assess another man's worth.  We really can't.  Better still, we really shouldn't.  If we dare look at man with the eyes of grace, compassion and love we will see the pricelessness of another human being.

Life is priceless.  Humanity is absolutely invaluable.  So before you find yourself summing up someone's worth, remember who you really are is not necessarily the situation you find yourself in!