Things don’t taste as they appear.

Things don’t taste as they appear.

                                       

Look at salt and sugar for example. They may appear to be the same but a short moment in the mouth and you can tell one from the other. We see something and without really knowing it we judge it to be what it appears to be and not always what it really is. Take a box of assorted chocolates they may all look very fine and truly edible. So ya bite in to one and discover that somehow the first look was wrong. Coverage of chocolate hides a lot. Some of those chocolates can be the best tasting Carmel sweets out there and others would be possibly something the dog drug home topped with chocolate. Keep this thought for a moment as I jump to another idea to tie to it.

So, for many years I spent leading young men as part of a calling for my church. Now many of the adventures we engaged in were crazy to put it on the well maybe safe side for you mother types that fear any activity. I will not name any one who was involved in the malarkey and shenanigans but many an adventure had its high lights with crazy moments. Now I would be the first to admit that I had some of the start of some of the fun like sledding down full mountains covered with snow to rappelling waterfalls, and cliff jumping into pools of water. With that being said there are twists in stories I’m certain by the time parents may get a word of it. I say that in sort of a disclaiming way as to the dangerous picture someone might get in there mind as to what may or may not have involved their young Johnny or Fred.

One day some years back a very out spoken parent just happens to catch me in the hallway of the church building and proceeds to enlighten me as to the idea that I was a rather bad influence on the youth of the area and therefore needed to change my ways. Mind you we had the week before been on one of those wild type adventures. As I was thus being lashed for my flaw of being way to adventuresome and unruly the thought hit me that maybe I should refer them and their concerns to the Bishop of the ward. Thinking it would end the situation quickly I said thanks for the concern and inched my way to the outside door and jetted to my car.

A few days later and the bishop being a friend and knowing me on more of a very personal level considering the talks we had been able to have many a time on a few of those activities and around a camp fire, talked with me about the situation. He had talked with the very concerned parent as to the nature of the need to change the leadership of the young men’s group of the church because of the bad influence I must surely be. The parent he said was questioned as to why I this bad person was even allowed to be near the youth. Truth came out the son had come house with some bruise from the last adventure. Now as to the way in which this must have happened was a mystery to me considering the young man had not seemed to disclose this at the time it happened or on us returning home. The Bishop and I got a good laugh considering the matter and how it could have been taken a different way as well with him knowing me very personally.

Many other posts would outline a different way in which I could be referred to as a bad influence. Had the parent possibly known the story of my life they very well would have had a different picture to add to the one they already had. Thus, to the statement of things do not always taste like they appear. We may seem to be so much different than people know what is under our covering. I could very well have done as some people and claimed to be offended but knowing the blind view that we have of many of the people we meet it would be pointless. The Bishop assured me that he was cool with things staying the same and that he didn’t think my rocky history was even something that they had a clue about. Some other point I should make is that we should be careful as to the way in which we state something to others because we never know to what way things come across to people. Yeppers, salt and sugar and assorted chocolates. Many a person may have thought of me a bad influence at some other time in life. Glad to be able to laugh at it now. Can we really see the difference in people or well we just aren’t sure? There are a fair number of people that we meet each day that we have no idea things about them personally.

 I add this too as an example. I was at a conference about teens nearing a year ago with my wife when someone we were talking with made mention of the idea of hopping some places or clubs. Him not knowing the nature of my past either. One of the by standers knowing me well enlightened the conversation about maybe it would not be good considering my past life experiences and it could be not good. The look on his face was one of oops. Skip a day and then we listen to a key note speaker about is death experience from a drug overdose and me talking with the speaker after and the person hearing our conversation of recovery and enlightenment. He tells me a few weeks later he wasn’t really sure what to say to me. It happens. I had to tell him all is good not everyone looks like what it seems or how we appear. So, it may not seem if you see someone dressed nice to find that they have things that don’t show underneath the layers of fine linen. A box of fine dipped chocolates. Remember sugar and salt.