Good morning, everyone.
Our verse for today comes from Acts 9:21, “Then all who heard were amazed, and said, ‘Is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem, and has come here for that purpose, so that he might bring them bound to the chief priests?’”
In Dances With Wolves, Kevin Costner plays Lieutenant John Dunbar of the Civil War-era Union Army. After being decorated for bravery, he is granted his choice of assignments, and he selects the outermost post known as Fort Sedgwick, so he can experience the frontier “before it is gone.” But upon arriving at Sedgwick, he discovers the camp deserted and in poor condition. Dutifully, he decides to stay, eventually getting the camp back into shipshape. One day while out riding, he happens upon a lady by a tree who has slit her wrists. Believing her to be of the Sioux tribe that he had briefly encountered at his fort sometime earlier, he takes her to them so that they may nurse her back to health. With great trepidation, the Sioux drag the bleeding woman back into camp while yelling at Dunbar to leave. But they are moved and intrigued by the gracious acts of a white man. Previously, their only encounters with his race had been hostile. The Sioux knew that the whites from the east were coming their way, and the freedom they currently enjoyed was in danger of extinction. And so, they expected Dunbar to be like all the others, part of the ones who had destroyed in the past, one of them who had come out to take what was not theirs and eliminate and destroy the Sioux.
But time with the Sioux changed Dunbar. As he attempted to communicate with them and build a relationship, he showed compassion and respect for them. He wanted to understand them rather than attack them. It was true that he had come out west to man the fort and serve the US Army, but he was not the killer they thought he was. Eventually, Dunbar falls in love with and marries the woman he rescued by the tree and abandons his post to live among the Sioux.
The assumptions and expectations of both Dunbar and the Sioux had been incorrect. Whether based on firsthand experience or secondhand tales, each thought worse of the other than was true. Is that a place you have found yourself? Have you heard about a Saul and expected the worst? Have you encountered an individual and stereotyped an entire group? It’s the easiest journey to take, but it leads you places Christ would have you avoid. Instead, give the labels a rest and set your focus on imitating Jesus.
As we seek Him today, lay aside your less than flattering assumptions and maybe discover something about yourself.
Have a delightful Thursday.
#4 Rich Holt
Dad of Ripken, Koy, TrishaJean, Samantha, Kakie Holiday and Raleigh
Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them.
