Recently, as I was driving home from work in the evening, this beautiful doe came running across the road right in front of me. Thankfully, I was able to slam on the breaks and nearly miss hitting this beautiful creature. A couple weeks later, nearly in the identical spot, it was deja-vu all over again, as Yogi Berra would say, same doe, same vehicle, same driver, I almost hit her again. Since the scene of the almost accident was at one of the more heavily trafficked intersections in our area, I figured that Bambi's Mother wasn't long for the world. She just wouldn't be able to survive such a highly traveled area for too much longer.
While I hate to say it, we'll get back to Bambi's Mother, and her fate, in a minute. First I must digress, and make a confession. I have anger issues when I drive. I get irritated with those who text, those who talk on the phone, those who cut me off, those who have no driving etiquette, etc. Most days, I drive in anger as these idiots who surround me do stupid things. It's obvious that it takes absolutely no intelligence to get a driver's license. Recently, I had one of those experiences that just makes your blood boil and makes a normal person into a raving lunatic. As I was about to pull out on Lawrenceville Highway when my light turned green, a car came flying through the red light, and would have hit me if I hadn't hesitated, just because I know how crazy people drive around Atlanta.
Enraged, I flew up the road, wanting to "get even", ride on the offender's bumper, yell and scream, make sure he knew what an idiot he was. I got my justice, I tailgated him, until he turned off, I gave him a piece of my mind, I let him know how dangerous a driver he was.
Shortly thereafter, I saw a group of turkey buzzards, at least 10 of them on the other side of the road, picking at something. Have you ever seen a turkey buzzard up close and personal? They are incredibly ugly, and they really don't care if you happen upon them, all they care about is their prey. As I drove by, I realized what they were picking at - it was Bambi's Mother. My immediate thought was, they are the ugliest creatures in the world, I'd love to just run them all over. Almost instantaneously, I had another immediate thought, no, they're God's creatures, He loves them. The thought of those grotesque creatures feeding on that beautiful doe made me sick. But as noted, they are God's creatures too. When God sees them, He doesn't see that ugly face, that ugly beak, He sees something that looks as beautiful as that doe. Don't know how, don't know why, but God sees beauty in those creatures.
This then took me back many years to a time with my Uncle Bob. There is always that person in your life that you say is the closest to God that you know. For me, it's my Uncle Bob. If you ever imagine meeting Mother Teresa, you imagine someone like my Uncle Bob, someone who always has a "God world view", everything is based on how God views us or God views the world. I remember telling my Uncle Bob about how awful a singer I was (and still am), and I remember him telling me, "God doesn't care what you sound like. Have you ever listened to blackbirds and how they go "caw caw" and how awful they sound? God doesn't care, He loves to hear them sing. No matter how you sound, God loves to hear you sing."
And as I come full circle, I go back to that turkey buzzard that ran the red light and almost hit me. What an ugly creature he was. Unfortunately there was another really ugly turkey buzzard in this situation, and of course, it was me. As I drove up the road, yelling and screaming and acting like an idiot, I was just as ugly as those nasty birds feasting on that sweet doe. As much as I'd love to look in the mirror and see that beautiful doe, I still see an ugly, ugly bird looking back at me.
No matter how hard I try, I'm never going to look as beautiful as that doe. While I can improve, I can make positive adjustments, there is nothing else I can ever really see in the mirror but that incredibly ugly bird, feasting on whatever is beautiful in this world. As Jeff Poynter, a great man, said recently, "I've come to realize that I'm never going to graduate on this side of Heaven." So do I have to wait until I get on the other side of Heaven to not look so ugly? I guess the answer is yes, but ...
While I'll always be ugly like that turkey buzzard, when God looks at me, all He sees is someone who looks as beautiful as Bambi's Mother. Don't know how, don't know why, but God sees something beautiful when He looks at me. He doesn't see me as I am, but He sees me after graduation day. Through the cross, through Grace, He sees me as I will be, rather than as I am.
As my mind began to fully take in this scene and what it all means, I couldn’t help but see Jesus. As Jesus hung there on the cross, the weight of our sin literally picked at his flesh. But now, His beautiful act of love redeems us, and we can become more and more like that beautiful doe each day.
