God's Gift?

Uncle Bubba has a birthday coming up and it got him to thinking about a sarcastic saying that he's heard in the past; the one that about if'n you're God's gift the world. He remembers walking in on a project at work and his coworkers were struggling with trying to make things cultivate. When Bubbie showed up on the scene he had a completely different solution to offer, different from anything that had been previously suggested or tried. When he spoke up confidently to offer his solution it fell on deaf ears. People just looked at him annoyedly and told him that he was way off base. He persisted in expressing his opinion and one person quipped, "Aren't we lucky that God has graced us with your presence." Of course his solution eventually turned out to be the one that worked but that's beside the point. We have these expressions that are meant to put one another down, to put someone in their place.

But the truth is that God did did grace us with your presence. The question is, is the world a better place because you're here? It's been Bubbie's observation that most folks think that on the inside, they are really a good person. We may do bad things on occasion, but that's only because of the circumstances around us. Sometimes our biggest transgression is not doing anything at all; being absent when we should be involved. Or as in a previous post were Uncle Bubba told us about a person that damaged someone's car with a shopping cart and anonymously drove off. If you could find that idiot and ask them if deep down they are a good person, they would undoubtedly say yes.  Try it for yourself; out of the blue, casually ask anyone you know if they think they're a good person. You'll reach the same conclusion. But now turn it back on yourself and what do you see? It's Bubbie's opinion that most people fall just at 50% on the scale of goodness. The world isn't a better place because we're here, but we contribute to some marginal betterment in the lives of our loved ones. So how much more effort would it take to reach 51% and actually be a graceful presence? Wouldn't it be nice to work with pleasant coworkers? Then be one. Wouldn't you like to have great friends? Then be one. If you don't know where to start, in Bubbie's view if you could just hold kindness in your heart, that would be enough.