As “Scarred But Unscathed: Growing in Faith” has made its way out into the world I have heard people comment that they would have never guessed that the various contributors went through such experiences. Several people have said that “from looking at someone you figure you know who that person is and what their life is like but in reality you really don’t know.” Another author once said that anyone’s assessment of another person from just looking at that person is more than likely very incomplete and often flat out wrong.
We all make assumptions about people. I suppose it really is just human nature. We assume that people with money look a certain way as do those without or with limited financial resources. We assume that people who wear glasses are smarter than others, and that because someone appears male or female that they identify that way. Sometimes we assume that everyone in a position of authority knows what he or she is doing. Then we’d like to believe that anyone who is significantly older than us is wise. Have you been in situations where you found the opposite of your assumption to actually be true? What if we all added a grain of “Hmmmm……” to our assessments of others. The “Hmmmmm…..” for not making decisions about the other person unless we talk to that person to learn who they are and what their lives have been. We never know how they arrived at this point in time. Think about your own life. How much does your exterior align with who you are now?
We can never guess another person’s path or life’s story. Things are not always as they seem. Have you had experiences where you mislabeled or misunderstood someone else due to your perception of who you thought the person to be? How did you handle that situation?