In a couple of weeks our North Carolina legislature will have been in session almost a month, and in my next column I plan to highlight some of the activity going on and what it might mean to us. Today I want to concentrate on two things: The importance of feeling important, and the recognition that there is somebody bigger than you and I.
I believe that one of the greatest desires of human beings is to feel important, whether at any level of achievement or at any age. Sometimes we tend to overlook that even the young and very young need positive recognition. I recently observed the smile of contentment on the face of our little granddaughter, Emma Reagan Gardner, now almost six months of age, when Emma held her closely with expressions of love and tenderness.
I recently heard about the case of a young mother of a 4-year-old child who took for granted that she knew what all his wants and desires might be, and that she would make all decisions for him. Then one day they were seated in a restaurant and the waitress came over and, looking at both of them, asked, “And what can I get for you folks today?”
The little boy was astounded she asked both of them, not just his mother, what they wanted, and when his mother answered that they would have hamburgers, her son said simultaneously, “I’ll have a hot dog.”
His mother was very surprised at his reaction, but she nodded her approval. The waitress then turned directly to the boy and asked, “And what would you like on your hot dog, young man?”
Well, this was a heavenly moment for this young man. He was talking directly to an adult who wanted to know what his desires were. He didn’t want this moment to end, so he prolonged it by describing in detail all the different ways he wanted his hot dog prepared. Finally, as the waitress walked away, she heard the boy say to his mother, “Mommy, she thinks I’m real!”
Sometimes people of all ages are made to feel “unreal” because of the way they are treated by others. We are in fact miraculous beings, made in the image of God, who loves us and is always with us.
Share with me now the legend of the Cherokee Indian youth’s rite of passage: His father takes him into the forest, blindfolds him, and leaves him alone. He is required to sit on a stump the whole night, and not remove the blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shine through it. He can’t cry for help to anyone. Once he survives the night, he is then a man. He can’t tell the other boys of this experience because each one must come into manhood on his own.
The boy is naturally terrified. He can hear all kinds of noises. Wild beasts must surely be all around him. Maybe even some human might do him harm. The wind blows and shakes his stump, but he sits stoically, never removing the blindfold. Finally, after a horrific night, the sun appears and he removes his blindfold. It is then that he discovers his father sitting on the stump next to him. He has been at watch the entire night, protecting his son from harm.
We, too, are never alone. Even when we don’t know it, God is always with us, watching over us. When trouble comes, all we have to do is reach out to Him. As the song says, “His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.” Help somebody feel important today!