Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Anonymous Letters

Attributed to former baseball great Yogi Berra:
"Why buy good luggage? You only use it when you travel."
"A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore."
"It ain't over till it's over."
"Never answer an anonymous letter."

A quick internet search reveals many lists of such Yogi-isms because they are often an amusing mix of foolishness and truth. "Never answer an anonymous letter," for example. After all, where would one send such a response? And yet... many of us move from day to day and place to place hearing message from often-unidentified sources that we come to believe are credible: "You're too _____" or "You're not _____ enough." (Anonymity cloaks sources of criticism far more than sources of praise, it seems...) We try to respond to anonymous -- sometimes nonexistent -- criticism, and end up majoring in image management, trying always to convince others that we're okay, really.

The question of source really is an important one, and I believe God is the ultimate Source. Whenever I hear or "hear" messages about my character, I need to take those to God, asking Him to help me discover the truth and respond accordingly.

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