I posted this picture of myself on Facebook while on vacation. It’s a picture of me all bundled up for downhill skiing at Spirit Mountain in Duluth. My youngest brother (who is 50 himself) posted a comment that sent me unexpectedly reeling back with what both Johnny Cash and “Nine Inch Nails” describe as an “old familiar sting.” He said something only someone who knew me 40 years ago could know, he said, “I remember that nose.”
40 years ago I was at Worden High School. It was small, but like any other High School people often exploited a weakness. In my case one thing that was exploited was the size of my nose. Everyone had something to say about it. Even my girlfriend back in the day, Lynette Jenkins who is the tall one in this picture, use to kid me. My one time best friend who was something of an artist wrote his message in my yearbook in the shape of a huge nose.
40 years ago I was at Worden High School. It was small, but like any other High School people often exploited a weakness. In my case one thing that was exploited was the size of my nose. Everyone had something to say about it. Even my girlfriend back in the day, Lynette Jenkins who is the tall one in this picture, use to kid me. My one time best friend who was something of an artist wrote his message in my yearbook in the shape of a huge nose.
But the final humiliation came in the yearbook. As we all know the number of pictures of you in your senior yearbook is how one should gauge one’s popularity or lack thereof. And so I was thrilled at first to see a picture of me going in for a layup at a basketball game. I mean this was the highlight of my basketball career. I was thrilled until I read the caption, “Danny, get your nose out of the basket.” I carry the memory of everyone’s favorite teacher and the yearbook advisor failing at holding back her chuckle as she said, “I hope that doesn’t hurt your feelings.”
Well OF COURSE it hurt my feelings: I was 17 YEARS OLD!
I like to think that in the 40 years since this emotional scaring I have overcome or moved on from the embarrassment and humiliation. But then maybe not, if it only takes a kidding word from a brother who, if we added all the kidding up I’m still up on him, to remind me. And maybe that is a good thing.
It’s a good thing maybe, because I’ve learned especially in the last 10 years that you really miss out in life when you, as they use to say, “Cut off your nose to spite your face.” What is it that our faults and mistakes and oddities have to teach us? How can the memory of “Get your nose out of the basket.” do anything more than just make me glad that it’s been 40 years and that I’ve lived my adult life over 500 miles away from anyone else who would remember?
I’m not sure what that is, but if you ask me it is what Jesus is talking about in the scripture we will explore in worship this Sunday. How we treat each other is important. It is important to God. In fact some think it is so important to God how we treat each other that they have gone so far as to say that how we love each other is how we love God.
You see it’s not that “Get your nose out of the basket.” isn’t funny, it is. And it’s not that God cannot take a joke, I believe she can. It’s that someone else pays a price. And the price that is paid is sometimes just too high. Ask Jesus about that one.
Keep the Faith!
Pastor Dan
Well OF COURSE it hurt my feelings: I was 17 YEARS OLD!
I like to think that in the 40 years since this emotional scaring I have overcome or moved on from the embarrassment and humiliation. But then maybe not, if it only takes a kidding word from a brother who, if we added all the kidding up I’m still up on him, to remind me. And maybe that is a good thing.
It’s a good thing maybe, because I’ve learned especially in the last 10 years that you really miss out in life when you, as they use to say, “Cut off your nose to spite your face.” What is it that our faults and mistakes and oddities have to teach us? How can the memory of “Get your nose out of the basket.” do anything more than just make me glad that it’s been 40 years and that I’ve lived my adult life over 500 miles away from anyone else who would remember?
I’m not sure what that is, but if you ask me it is what Jesus is talking about in the scripture we will explore in worship this Sunday. How we treat each other is important. It is important to God. In fact some think it is so important to God how we treat each other that they have gone so far as to say that how we love each other is how we love God.
You see it’s not that “Get your nose out of the basket.” isn’t funny, it is. And it’s not that God cannot take a joke, I believe she can. It’s that someone else pays a price. And the price that is paid is sometimes just too high. Ask Jesus about that one.
Keep the Faith!
Pastor Dan
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