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ABATE of Florida Inc SOUTHWEST CHAPTER
42
Chapter Chaplain Tom
Dear Fellow ABATE Members,
What’s in Your Pocket?
Or
What’s in Your Heart?
A few weeks ago, a friend who is a member of a local motorcycle association came up to
us and said, “You can always tell something about a person, when you see what’s in
their pockets.” So, just to see what we had and to see if it related to what we could tell
about each other, we emptied our pockets.
The biker friend had some shinny stones and a cigarette lighter. Kathy had a comb, the
directions for the run we were going on, and a cell phone. Tom had anointing oil and
some emergency crisis guidelines with suggested prayer outlines.
We could only tell just a little about each other from the items presented. Or, could we?
It is amazing the perceptions we have and the judgments we form when we only get
glimpses of people without really knowing them. Could we assume our friend is a
smoker? Or, does he use his lighter for some other function? What about the stones?
We could only guess. As far as Kathy’s comb; we know from experience she likes to
look presentable and combs out the helmet hairdo whenever we stop. With the cell
phone, she likes to stay in touch. Or, did she have her cell phone because she was on
call for her job, that weekend?
We think you will agree that many times, looks and appearances are many times,
deceiving. It is said that when we look at a person and hear them talk, we form our
opinion of them within the first 20 seconds. Within that time, we don’t see what’s in their
pockets. Just think of how many times we are looked at by cagers, while we are on the
road on our motorcycles. What do they think or think they know about us, just because
of appearances? How different would be their thinking if they saw us in a cage?
What if we saw a gun in someone’s pocket? Does it mean he/she is a criminal? A police
officer? Someone who is being stalked by a person wishing harm to him/her?
How about, “What’s in their heart?” We think that within those 20 seconds, we can tell a
lot about a person because of what we perceive is in their heart.
Perhaps we are more concerned about how people will perceive us. Perhaps we are
concerned how people perceive what is in our hearts. Perhaps there is something
troubling us from the inside and it is affecting our relationships on the outside.
In reading the 51st Psalm, we think that David must have been having some relationship
problems with others and God, along with others having a poor perception of him. The
root of this problem is because his heart was troubled due to the illicit relationship he
had with Bathsheba. He knew it was wrong and he had to get his heart back in a right
relationship with God. There must have been feelings of guilt. When we are not in a right
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