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Wayside_Wisdom Heard Along the Way
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In the past year and a half, we have traveled to many places. We have seen more beautiful things than we can list, some of them natural wonders and some of human design. We’ve marveled at waterfalls, cacti, rock formations, lakes, forests, beaches and seacoasts, various kinds of wildlife and fish, sunrises, sunsets, canyons and caves. We’ve "Ooh-ed" and "Aah-ed" over beautiful gardens and houses, towering skyscrapers, miraculous modes of transportation, artistic city-planning designs, and elegant public buildings. Much too often, however, when we get closer to the object of our admiration, we discover the mark of those who had visited before: GRAFFITI. Initials may be spray-painted on a rock wall. Dates may be scratched into a wooden handrail, a tree trunk, or a towering saguaro cactus. An obscenity can appear in the restroom of a public building. GRAFFITI, what is it? The word comes, I think, from Italian and means anything "written or scrawled on a rock or a wall." But, in its common English usage, it usually refers to words scrawled by someone in a public place. Graffiti is someone’s selfish attempt to make a mark for themselves at the expense of beauty for all. It’s a cheap way to deface a thing of wonder by announcing, "I was here!" I’m always saddened by graffiti because it announces, unmistakably, that the human instinct for self glorification is alive and well! In our highway travels, the ugly graffiti we’ve seen has been written, carved, scratched, or painted. On the journey of life, though, when we confront GRAFFITI, most of it is verbal. Harsh criticism, bitter words of judgment, put-downs, ridicule, humorless jokes, or constant correction are the verbal graffiti of life. It comes from the same human motive as spray-painted obscenities: the desire to mark a thing of beauty with one’s own personal identity! Every person is beautiful, made in the image of God. Each of us is unique and special, with gifts, talents and positive qualities. But none of us is so perfect that we can assume the right to mold others in our own image or mark them with our own selfishness. Verbal graffiti scars a developing soul as painfully as carved initials stunt a growing tree trunk. Graffiti, written or spoken, announces someone’s attempt to make God – and God’s creation – into their own image. If God "does not live in houses made by human hands," surely the Almighty does not inhabit the narrow space between the ears of one who worships the idol of self! mshr 11/28/2006 |