Think About It

 A few weeks ago during my morning devotion and meditation, my thoughts wonder as they some time do.  This time my thoughts wondered to why do people perceive things so differently.  Not only in the political world of today, but our perception of things can be so very different.  How do we determine what is true?  

One incident that came to mind was the time we took our three year old nephew with us to our daughter's college graduation.  Corey spent every weekend with us because of his mother's job.  If we had a vacation, Corey went with us.  So, yes, we took him with us to our oldest daughter's graduation.  There was no problem at graduation.  Then, after graduation, we had made reservations at a nice restaurant in Charlotte.  This is where we ran into some people who had a different perception of where a child belongs.

We arrived at the restaurant and were lead to our table.  As we were being seated, people at a nearby table loudly asked us to leave because a child does not belong in ‘nice restaurants.’  The waiter kindly asked the couple if they would like to move to another table away from us.  They were not happy and left.  Their perception of children was different than ours.  Evidently, they either did not like children or had bad experiences with children.  All of my family loved Corey and could see no wrong in anything he did.  Thankfully, the loud couple was the only incident that day.  Corey opened the menu (upside down) like he was choosing what he wanted.  As we discussed the graduation and what was good on the menu, Corey appeared to quietly examine the menu.  The waiter came for our orders and asked Corey first, “Sir, what will you like today?”  Corey folded the menu and looking at the waiter with his big brown eyes said, “You know I can’t read.”  Then he continued, “I’ll like a pizza with a pickle on the side.”  Laughter everywhere.  My heart loved the sweet child even more.  The waiter left and came back to let us know that the chef would be honored to prepare a pizza for the young man.  Corey was served a beautifully crafted little pizza with a pickle on the side.  I wonder if the waiter and chef remember that day.  This is love and respect and the couple with a perception of ‘children being bad’ missed a wonderful meal and experience.  

Maybe, this couple had one bad experience which molded their perception of a child in a restaurant or public place.  Or, they had gone out to get away from their houseful of noisy children.  However, should we judge a group of people by one incident leading us to a false perception.  Think about it...  Examine the facts and consider if your perception is true.