Looking 'Cool' is very difficult especially during a heat wave!

Yesterday as I was driving home from work I noticed a couple of teenage boys driving along in a late model sports car. The temperature was still in the high nineties and the heat index was well beyond that but there they were with the windows down looking cool. Both of them looked as if they could need resuscitation at any moment but the main thing was maintaining the ‘look’. I thought to myself how easy that could have been me some forty-five years ago OR how it could still be any of us as we go about our living in a way trying to have a certain appearance. While I would not have had the choice of an air conditioning system way back then in the car I drove, I still spent plenty of time perfecting my version of ‘cool’ for others to observe. We do live in a world where superficiality and outward appearance rules our day and that’s what I am thinking about on this Tuesday, July 14, 2009.

Now these two boys were no doubt wanting to impress someone with their laid back look. If a young lady was thinking straight she would have to wonder how in the world it makes sense to ride down the highway sweltering in the heat and humidity when all you have to do is raise the windows and flip on the A/C. But, then she would not have been able to see them clearly in the car even though their potted meat faces may not have been their best, at least they could be seen and they could be seen as being pretty cool. We laugh now but we also know that we all at times have been there putting on an act to try in impress or fool someone else.
I was talking to someone the other day about how many times we respond to a greeting of how we are doing by saying that magical word: “fine”. We look fine and we say we are fine but often that’s not even close.

Preachers like to tell the funny story of how folks change their demeanor and behavior the closer they get to the Church meeting place. Before leaving home it had been a nightmare of screaming and trying to get everyone up and going. Mommy and daddy were still carrying on their argument from the previous evening and the kids were out of control. But when they roll into the parking lot and are greeted by their fellow Church members a transformation comes over that car and suddenly an episode of ‘Leave it to Beaver’ starts to play as everyone miraculously begins to look and act perfect. Been there and done that, not only in that situation but so many others. Right? I didn’t see any heads nodding in agreement but I assume we all can identify with this need to be ‘cool’. We learned it from our ancestors and we will certainly pass it on, but while there should be balance in all things, I know that most of us know that God would have us to be genuine and honest in the living out of our life. I have also seen the story in reverse when a fellow whose A/C was broken was embarrassed so he rolled up all the windows and nearly suffocated because he didn’t want any one to know about it. Are we a messed up lot or what? The really good news is that God loves us any way and that my friend is very cool! Have a great one and may God bless you all. Amen. …..More later.