When I was a wee youngster, one of the educational tools for kiddos was a little something called, What's Wrong With This Picture? The goal was for a child to look at a drawing and see the things that were out of place, upside down, etc. For example, if the picture was of a carpenter hammering a nail into a board, the artist may have made the nail a pencil, the board a slice of bread, the hammer a spatula, stuff like that.
Every once in a while, I happen across a story where tons of things are wrong. Yet, due to some great decisions, there lays the proverbial pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. This makes me think the opposite of that childhood exercise, "What's right with this picture?"
Here's the tale du Jour:
The parents of my friend, Carrie, live in a small town in Pennsylvania. Last month, at 2 AM, bricks and rocks were thrown into their house, shattering a plate glass window and breaking lamps and other delicate things. When the first window broke, Carrie's father, John, jumped out of bed and rushed to the window in time to see a group of teenagers peeling away on scooters.
While he cleaned up the mess, Pops came to a decision on how to handle the matter. The next day, he drove around the neighborhood until he spotted some familiar looking scooters. He stopped, told the lady of the house what had happened, and said he'd like to speak to the owners of the scooters. She shut the door in his face.
Later that evening, two 16-year olds and two sets of parents showed up on John's doorstep. Both boys were nervous as could be; visibly shaking and sweating. The young men admitted they'd done the vandalism, apologized profusely, begged him not to call the police and said they'd work to pay off the damage.
John introduced himself and offered his hand. When the boys shook it, he said, "Thank you for being men about this."
As they chatted some more, John recognized one of the boys and asked, "Don't you play basketball for the high school?" The boy nodded. "Well, come basketball season, I'll be in the crowd cheering for you. I think your life is going to start heading in some real positive directions!"
Wow! John has every right to want the heads of these punks on a platter! And yet? He forgives them, extends the opportunity to right their wrong AND then, THEN even says he'll support their basketball team this fall! There aren't many people in the world that would turn the other cheek, but even less who'd embrace the lives of these guys outside the situation at hand. Thankfully, John did!
So often, we hear stories of people whose lives were on a downward spiral. Then, one person -just one person - believed in them, felt they were worth something and gave them a chance. Will John's actions be what turn these boys' lives around? Maybe... just maybe!
This story has given me some new insight on how we should all strive to have John's mindset; to cut major slack, even if it's undeserved. To believe that past actions don't have to determine the future. To look at every event as an opportunity to make a positive difference. To be a driving force of positive change in the life of just a single other person.
At worst, it may mean extending an opportunity to an undeserving person. At best, it may mean the point when one's life changes forever!
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