fluffy grass and soft pine trees

"Brave men are vertebrates; they have their softness on the surface and their toughness in the middle. But these modern cowards are all crustaceans; their hardness is all on the cover and their softness is inside. (G.K. Chesterton's The Prehistoric Railway Station)

i live in a very interesting place. the campus of ashland university is probably one of the softest, least threatening places on the planet. i could almost go so far as to call it fluffy. we even have fluffy grass, as i discovered today. so, mixed with my discovery of soft pine needles last year, i could be tempted to think that all plants on campus are safe and harmless. i probably would think this if there weren't also spiky pine trees and sharp grass on campus.

however, though you might think this by now, this blog is not about plants...it's about our brother in Christ. God has gifted me with particularly wonderful brothers who work very hard to be helpful and not sharp or spiky, which is wonderful! but what should i do when i come across sharp and/or spiky brothers?

well, i should love them like they're my brothers (because they are) and like they're beautifully complicated masterpieces of the Lord Most High (again, because they are). maybe it would also be good for me to pray...lots (because talking to God is a good thing :) and to try really hard and pray really hard to see them in the way God does. it would be helpful too to look for ways to be a good and helpful sister and to "heap coals of fire on his head" by being extra kind and considerate. finally, i can be thankful (i guess...) because if all brothers were good and wonderful then i might think that all men are too and that is certainly not true (i really wish it was :-(.

i think that mean people are normally mean because they're hurting, or afraid, or lost, or insecure. so mayhaps i should work really hard to see past the reaction of a brittle and maybe even poisonous exterior and see the person God created underneath...though i hope very much that all of our brothers in Christ will be kind, helpful, strong, and good men of God.