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- Aug 1, 2017
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There is a home I drive past everyday on the way to work. Older neighborhood. The homeowners live on a main road that people tend to drive a little too fast. To protect them from drivers like me, you probably couldn't blame them if they had one of those signs out front that read, "Drive like your kids live here", or my favorite,
After all, those fat little bastards will get hit, unless we warn passing drivers. It's always the slow kid with "cankles", I suppose, that live on the busy streets, and need signs like these to protect them. The fleet-footed, more agile kids' parents can afford to live in the cul-de-sacs, or at least those kids can better dodge cars on their skateboards. I bet Grob lived on a busy street. A sign like this probably saved his ass once or twice. But I digress.
No, though you couldn't blame them, my neighbor actually decided sometime over the summer to go all-in on a different kind of sign. They decided to become one of "those houses." You know the type, for good or for bad, that adorn their dwelling with something that turns peoples heads as they drive past. Maybe it's a wild paint color, ("That's where those crazy people live") or maybe cars up on blocks, ("There goes the neighborhood.") My neighbor decided to do something different,
"Be Kind & always assume good will", their sign says. Right on the top of the garage. BOOM. For all the world to see. Sort of an appropriate font, too. Don't you think? A soft font, that says, "I'm not yelling this. I love you, and I want to make your day better."
When I first saw the sign back in June or July, I remember thinking, "Good for them." But otherwise not thinking much of it. But as I've passed their home time and time again, sometimes I'll glance at their sign and think different things. Once, I wondered what inspired them. Once I wondered if a traumatic event in their lives turned their life perspective into a softer approach. Another time, I contrasted their sign with my dads infamous philosophy, "Hey daddy. You gotta screw them, before they screw you!"
Sigh. Dad thought that if you assumed good will, the next guy will get over on you. Oh, dad had great love in his heart, too, but insecurities and hatred can sometimes dominate the character of a man.
And I suppose my father's son has been guilty of assuming the worst of others. I've driven past my neighbor's home on a bad day, and thought, "Sappy fools, I bet people don't pick dog crap off your lawn!"
But today, as I drove past their home, glad for yesterdays Ram victory over the Cowboys, but preoccupied and sad about the horrific shooting in Las Vegas, I was given some hope. "Be kind & always assume good will." Thanks neighbor.
Believe me, I believe in Peace through Strength, but I too have come to realize, as God changes my heart, that any hope for our world is not going to come from the guy with the biggest gun, but from millions more people like my neighbor, daring to love greatly, and with reckless abandon.
After all, those fat little bastards will get hit, unless we warn passing drivers. It's always the slow kid with "cankles", I suppose, that live on the busy streets, and need signs like these to protect them. The fleet-footed, more agile kids' parents can afford to live in the cul-de-sacs, or at least those kids can better dodge cars on their skateboards. I bet Grob lived on a busy street. A sign like this probably saved his ass once or twice. But I digress.
No, though you couldn't blame them, my neighbor actually decided sometime over the summer to go all-in on a different kind of sign. They decided to become one of "those houses." You know the type, for good or for bad, that adorn their dwelling with something that turns peoples heads as they drive past. Maybe it's a wild paint color, ("That's where those crazy people live") or maybe cars up on blocks, ("There goes the neighborhood.") My neighbor decided to do something different,
"Be Kind & always assume good will", their sign says. Right on the top of the garage. BOOM. For all the world to see. Sort of an appropriate font, too. Don't you think? A soft font, that says, "I'm not yelling this. I love you, and I want to make your day better."
When I first saw the sign back in June or July, I remember thinking, "Good for them." But otherwise not thinking much of it. But as I've passed their home time and time again, sometimes I'll glance at their sign and think different things. Once, I wondered what inspired them. Once I wondered if a traumatic event in their lives turned their life perspective into a softer approach. Another time, I contrasted their sign with my dads infamous philosophy, "Hey daddy. You gotta screw them, before they screw you!"
Sigh. Dad thought that if you assumed good will, the next guy will get over on you. Oh, dad had great love in his heart, too, but insecurities and hatred can sometimes dominate the character of a man.
And I suppose my father's son has been guilty of assuming the worst of others. I've driven past my neighbor's home on a bad day, and thought, "Sappy fools, I bet people don't pick dog crap off your lawn!"
But today, as I drove past their home, glad for yesterdays Ram victory over the Cowboys, but preoccupied and sad about the horrific shooting in Las Vegas, I was given some hope. "Be kind & always assume good will." Thanks neighbor.
Believe me, I believe in Peace through Strength, but I too have come to realize, as God changes my heart, that any hope for our world is not going to come from the guy with the biggest gun, but from millions more people like my neighbor, daring to love greatly, and with reckless abandon.
