It's all about who, you know.

Last week, a group of us (teachers) went to a conference.  There were 5 sessions, and 15 topic offerings per session.  As I sifted through titles, times, presenters, and locations, I noticed that my ‘deciding factor’ was the presenter.  Case in point: I have almost no knowledge, nor much interest in wrestling.  But I jumped at the chance to attend a session by a certain wrestling coach because I have friends who wrestled for him and loved their experience. 

It’s about the person behind the words.

In the movie Hitch, Alex kicks Sarah in the face, causing her to fall off a jet ski into dirty water, he loses his shirt, and has an exaggerated allergic reaction to shellfish. Yet her analyses of the dates are “yeah, he failed miserably…but he did it with style…and this is a good thing”. If the same things were done by a different guy, Sarah would have probably written him off. And she may have cited the above incidents as ‘the reasons’. But those incidents wouldn't really have been the reasons. We all know...at the end of the day, she just liked him.  

“The heart has its own reasons, of which reason knows not.” (Pascal...for an in-depth analysis of this, click here)

Texts, calls, and dates: there’s no magic formula about when, how, and where.  They aren't objectively good or bad.  The text, call, or date becomes good (or bad) because of the person behind it.  On paper, a date may be bad, but it is perceived as good.  On paper, a date may be good, but it is perceived as bad. 

As much as we wish our good actions defined us, they just don’t.  And as much as we worry that our mistakes and sins define us, they just don’t.  There is so much more to the story...thank God!

We are not the sum of our weaknesses and failures; we are the sum of the Father’s love for us and our real capacity to become the image of his Son.  - Blessed Pope John Paul II, WYD Toronto 2002

This is the shape he was in when he spoke those words!

I pray that I will not define myself, nor define you, by your good or bad actions, but rather widen my circle to let us be defined as the sum of the Father’s love for us, and allow Him to form us in the image of his Son.