Pay It Forward

There it was again! Staring up at me, were a set of frightened eyes. I had noticed them the day before, as I carelessly tossed some papers into the trash can in my bedroom. There, at the bottom of a dauntingly tall litter receptacle was a small spider. Unlike my arachnophobic friend, I don't mind spiders so long as they don't bite me. So I really didn't ponder the sighting of the eight-legged, eight-eyed creature for much time. Now, I realized it had been there for at least two days. Call me a softy, but I felt sorry for it. I imagined, one moment, it was looking at a captivatingly white cylinder and the next moment, it found itself stuck in a hole, possibly for the rest of its life. Didn't you ever feel that way as a kid, or maybe even now? You're just exploring the backyard, and then you get lost in the woods; you're just looking at that toy at the store for a few more seconds, and next thing you know, your mom is gone; you just want to try shaving once, and you get tied to it for the rest of your life. Is this ringing a bell for anyone else? My point is: we've all done things that we later regretted. Sometimes they're stupid, and sometimes they're inappropriate, but other times, our curiosity just gets the better of us. Like peeking at Christmas presents and feeling guilty all winter long, or secretly eating all the cookies, then realizing there's no one else to blame, or saying what was really on your mind. I've done it all.

However, I've been shown grace, repeatedly. I've received so many second chances (most notably the price paid by the cross), that I know I have no choice but to pay it forward. Even to something as insignificant as a tiny spider. With this in mind, I turned the trash on its side and gave it the freedom of which it dreamed. Thank you to everyone who's done the same for me. :-)

Have a GREAT week!

Brent the Magnificent