First Impressions

So, how did your day go yesterday?  Did you “splash” on a lot of people? (see yesterday’s post “Splash)  We sure did!  It poured all the way down to San Francisco where my wife had a 2:00 pm appointment with her Neurologist at the Brain Health Center.  We got a little bit of a reprieve walking from the parking garage to the medical center, but didn’t get off quite as easy on the way back to the car!  We made great time going into the City, but it was literally bumper to bumper all the way home.  What normally takes a little over an hour took us more than 2.5 hours!

But it was worth it.  This is the one doctor’s visit where I always feel that we get our money’s worth.  In our two hour visit, we spent most of that time with the head of the center and then about a half an hour with the on-sight case worker.  Both of these individuals have been a God send to us over the last few years.  We had been to see nine other doctors before we were recommended to this specialized practice.  From the moment the new doctor walked into the room we knew we were home!  This lady and her staff are extremely knowledgeable in their fields of expertise, and are compassionate, encouraging, open and upfront with information and are available to assist with any needs we might have.

The Social Worker also confided in us that even though she had been in the business for a long time, that upon their first meeting, that my wife had taught her a few things on relating to those who may not always be able to communicate effectively.  She mentioned the strength and peace of Piper’s spirit reaching out to her, even though she wasn’t physically talking, and how just sitting there holding my wife’s hand was an intrinsic experience for her that has helped her to communicate with similar patients.

Both the Doctor and Social Worker remarked numerous times of how good Piper looked and what a good job I was doing with her.  I have to admit that comments such as these, while they are an extreme blessing to me, normally take me by surprise!  I just see myself as doing the only natural thing that there is to do with the one you love.

Our experiences with the staff at the Center yesterday and the way that they have responded to my wife are not only pleasant but easy to accomplish.  It is plain to see that these folks are loving, kind and sincere about who they are and what they do.  This is not always the case though, with everyone we meet in the course of our daily lives.  Many times we come upon those who, shall we say, have a rough exterior!  They may not look nice, act nice and/or just be very different than ourselves.

I believe that Jesus had an experience with one of these individuals at the very onset of His ministry.  I can just imagine that little red flag that comes up in all of us at times waving wildly when Andrew introduced Jesus to his brother Simon!  Here before Him was a character we would later come to know as a simple fisherman who was more than a little rough around the edges, tended to speak his mind and act first and think later!  Peter was probably a good example of the “Loose Cannons” I wrote about last month (see blog posted 1/20/14).  Now, while I have a strong sense that Jesus thought about all this as He cast His eyes upon Simon, His actions reveled a completely different tack!

John 1:42 relates Jesus’ first reaction to him.  It says that “He (Andrew) took him (Simon) to Jesus; Jesus gazed at him and said, ‘You are Simon, the son of John?  Your name is to be Cephas’ (meaning ‘Peter’ or ‘Rock’).” (Moffatt)  In more modern vernacular, the Message Bible puts it as “From now on your name is Cephas…”  It is evident that Jesus looked right past the outward appearance of Simon and gazed directly into his heart!  The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges remarks that “Christ’s gaze penetrated to his heart and read his character.”  Jesus looked past the obvious and must have been amazed at what He saw hidden inside of Simon!

And then He did a very unusual thing.  He must have taken note of something His Father had done thousands of years previous to this incident with a man named Abram.  Jesus immediately, without a second thought, said to Simon, “From NOW ON your name is Cephas (or Peter, which means ‘Rock’).  Jesus knew that He was not to be swayed by the outward expression of people.  He looked inside of Peter, saw his potential and didn’t waste any time helping Peter to begin to see the same thing!

I think that this is a great example for us to follow, don’t you?  It goes hand in hand with Paul’s encouragement to us in Ephesians 5:1 to “Imitate God.” (God’s Word ©)  I’ve often times heard about the initial mistakes that some have made through their judgment of certain people by their first impressions of them.  I am sure that we have all made that mistake before.  I have come to learn that Jesus’ immediate reaction as noted by John is a learned response.  It is something that takes practice.

Some people’s looks, vocabulary, and actions can at times, come as a shock if one is not accustomed to such things.  It takes a continually growing experiential knowledge of the love of God to help us to see as Jesus saw when He walked this earth.  For most of us it is not something that comes overnight!  It means spending quality time with Him and His word on a regular basis.  Time with Him is never wasted time!  The proof of that is demonstrated through the transformation that we see in Peter through the Gospels and the Book of Acts.  That’s the kind of affect I want to have on others… and I bet you do too!  Have a great day.  Stay in tune to God’s Word and keep asking yourself… “What am I expecting today?”