THE GIFT OF MISFITS
Who is to say who is the misfit?
Is a misfit someone who is out of place in a particular situation? Are they the one who doesn’t believe in birthdays when there is a birthday party going on? Or the one who sits on the sidelines in a room full of people and doesn’t participate in the conversations, but is content to just sit and observe and listen? Are they a homeless person who has made a bed in a doorway next to a sidewalk while people are walking by? Perhaps they are the one who doesn’t go to the football games to root for their team because they really don’t like sports. Are they the one who wants to stay home and read while “everyone else” wants to go out and play? Or the person who chooses to live their life alone rather than to get married and possibly become a parent?
Are they the one who always finds a reason to change jobs because there is something they just don’t like about their boss or the policies of the company? What about the person who insists on bringing their own “special” food to gatherings because they have chosen a special diet? And they politely, and sometimes not politely, choose not to try what everyone else is eating. Maybe they are hoarders, saving everything they have ever bought and looking for more to add to their hoard.
Are these people not fit to be part of humanity as we know it? Haven’t we been a misfit of some sort in our own lives? I think we are all part of the human race and should be accepted for who we are. Even if someone doesn’t like what we do or how we think.
Prayer: Dear God, please help me to be more accepting of those of us (including myself) who are not like “everyone else.” Amen
Bob McIntire