Life has its challenges, that’s for sure. But I think one of the
hardest challenges is trying to always look for the good in people. I mean, It’s
easy to be cynical, judgmental, and impatient with people because, you know,
they’re people. But as a Christian, I feel an obligation to be patient and kind,
and yet sometimes its really hard!
Two weeks ago, I pulled into the parking lot at Saddleback Church in Rancho Capistrano around 7:00am on Monday morning. My job was to inspect the Light Poles at the nearby Soccer Field and since it was early, the parking lot was empty. I had just dropped my tailgate and put on my yellow work vest when I heard a man screaming at the top of his lungs. I looked in the direction of the sound and a man in his thirties was careening towards me at full speed on a bicycle, yelling and cursing, and screaming that he was going to kill me. I was shocked and stood still for a moment, but when he reached me and threw his bike down onto the asphalt, and charged towards screaming, “You’re a dead man!”, I slowly reached for my hammer on top of my toolbox in the back of my truck. As he charged at me, cursing me at the top of his lungs, I squeezed the handle of that hammer, hoping… no praying… that I wouldn’t have to use it.
But somehow, I remained calm, looked directly into his eyes, and surprisingly he stopped 5’ in front of me. And yet he kept yelling, “I’m going to kill you!” My heart was beating out of my chest, but I could tell he was high on drugs, so I kept my mouth shut and stayed calm. I think it confused him, because for just a few seconds he stopped yelling. Then he started up again, telling me I would be dead before the end of the day. But then, thankfully, he got back on his bike and rode away. I called 911 and let the Sheriffs know what happened because the man was obviously dangerous and deranged, and the Church parking lot would soon be filled with innocent people.
One week later, I completed a Light Pole Inspection at a Stater Brothers Shopping Center in a not so great area of San Dimas. As I sat in my truck filling out paperwork, there was a loud rapping on my driver’s side window. I turned and was startled to see a very large, crazy looking woman with braided corn rows shooting out in every direction on top of her head. She was wide eyed and disheveled looking and kept knocking away. My first thought was, “Here we go again!” But as I rolled down my window, just a little, she asked me a question. “Mister, did you lose a tool?”
She then explained that she saw a sharp tool lying next to one of my tires. She said she kicked it away because she didn’t want me to run over it. I got out of my truck, and she pointed to a cold chisel about 20’ away. Sure enough, it had fallen out of my tool bucket. I picked it up and thanked her and she said, in a very soft and kind voice, “Well, I just didn’t want you to get a flat tire and have a bad day.” Turns out she was a very sweet woman who was simply trying to do a good deed.
When I got back in my truck, I instantly felt bad that I let an
experience with a bad person cause me to temporarily think poorly of a good
person. So
I guess I failed that challenge. And yet, if you ask me, success in life comes
from learning from our mistakes… and better yet… sharing what we learn with
others!
Judging a person does not define who they are. It defines who you are.
~ Wayne Dyer
