Miss Myra (not her real name) was an 88 year old visually impaired woman with a history of stroke that caused her to have impaired judgement and impulsive behaviors. The other day I went into her room to help a student check her blood sugar. We found her crawling on her bed screaming profanities. Miss Myra was rather "uninhibited" in both her speech and her actions and had no trouble making her thoughts and opinions known. People dreaded her because of this. In some ways she reminded me of Gullom from Lord of the Rings.
As we left the room after checking her blood glucose, I reflected on the experience. What do people like Miss Myra have to teach us? How can we remain cool and composed when she constantly hurls insults and threats at us? How can we have compassion on her and love her as Christ loves us?
The most repulsive thing about Miss Myra is not her insults, it's not her threats, its not her disheveled appearance, it's that she reminds us of ourselves. Looking at her is like looking in a mirror. The truth is that deep inside we are all like Miss Myra. "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks." The difference between most of us and Miss Myra is that we can filter what we are thinking to make what comes out of our mouth socially and culturally acceptable. That doesn't mean that we don't have those same wicked thoughts. Unmasked, we are all like Miss Myra; our hearts are black and shriveled. We need God and His Holy Spirit to cover us with His grace and transform us into His likeness.
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