I just filmed a spot for an evening TV show. The topic was creative presentations of the scriptures. I really prepared myself mentally for this. I really don’t videotape well. My head is larger than normal and it looks even larger on film. We had a great conversation. The interviewer belongs to our church so I was sharing with a friendly person.
Wouldn’t you know it just when I thought I had pulled off being suave and all, I got back to my office, went to the rest room and looked in the mirror. There I saw a horrifying sight. I had a berry drink for lunch from a bottle and it had left a line on my upper lip. It looked like someone had really plastered me. I wanted to run the crew down and ask to do it over but they were loaded and gone by the time I made it back.
My only solace is they only use a few second spots on these things. And my face will be on and off before most people notice. And I am hoping that the camera angle will spare me some embarrassment too.
While we are talking about mirrors this last week I caught a glimpse of myself getting out of the shower. Phew! That was a scary sight. It looked like a beached whale had landed in the shower room. My wife has been after me for months to rid myself of some girth. This sight convinced me she was right. So I am walking one hour a day now and eating salads for lunch and very small portions at dinner. And I don’t enjoy it much.
In my defense I take some medication that keeps weight on. I really don’t eat much. But the doctor said with the meds I take I need to exercise regularly and watch what I eat. But a picture is worth a thousand words and I heard him this time when I saw myself in the mirror.
I usually spill food on my shirt and not my upper lip. My mother says she does the same thing. But you really can’t trust what your mother says. They will usually say whatever makes you feel the best.
Food just isn’t much of a friend to me. I will likely lose 30 pounds within three to five months. Then it’s the age-old battle to keep it off. And all the while these meds are working against me. Oh well.
Embarrassment is a funny emotion. It usually occurs when your true identity is far from your envisioned image. In my head I am svelte. But in fact I am not. In my head I am debonair and exciting. But in fact I am boring. I like to watch TV and see a movie here and there. And I do enjoy just talking with my wife. We have long fascinating conversations. I often get the idea that she would like to climb mountains and forge rapids but I have done all that.
I wonder if we really can embarrass God. My kids embarrassed me sometimes. And I suspect I did them as well for the record. I just wonder if He doesn’t say things like, ‘Come on Doug you look like a beached whale with a big head.†I don’t know. I am pretty sure He doesn’t get embarrassed. In fact I think He delights in us too much to turn red-faced.
I know a lot of people who worry about whether others are embarrassing God or their church. The way I see it most people are really trying hard to match their image of themselves. And God might give us more breaks than we think.
I think we can hurt God’s heart. The scriptures have ample proof of that. All you have to do is read the book of Jeremiah and you get that view pretty fast. I really don’t want to ever hurt God’s heart. And that is what motivates me to get things as right as I can.
I have done a lot of embarrassing things. One I just recalled was a Sunday morning when I got up extra early and didn’t turn the lights on because I didn’t want to wake my wife. Fumbling around in the dark I finally found a left and right shoe. I was speaking from the platform a few hours later when I glanced at my feet and noticed I had two different shoes on. One was black and the other was brown. Unless people were just kind the only one who noticed was my daughter. She was embarrassed.
I believe God does have a sense of humor. And I think he doesn’t mind if we embarrass ourselves. I don’t think he would deliberately embarrass anyone. But I think he has a lot of good that comes out of our less than debonair moments.
The irony of the whole story is it’s the fault of my pursuit of health that I ended up with a berry mark on my upper lip. It was anti-oxidant juice. I didn’t drink any pop or fat drinks; it was pure grade healthy stuff. And if I hadn’t been trying to be healthy I wouldn’t have had a lip that looked like some one slapped me with a chair. The image of the whale in my shower still has me motivated to eat healthy!
