I am in Orlando as this post is written. I come here in April for the Exponential Conference. If you’re into church planting or revitalization, don’t miss this conference next year.
While I am here I always run. I love to run in this city. One thing that stood out to me this time in Orlando is that most everyone here has tinted windows. The sun shines a lot. It makes sense. Some are tinted more than others, but almost all are tinted. Some are tinted so much that you can’t see the driver. That’s hard for us runners.
But car windows are tinted…
Where I come from, highly tinted windows are illegal. And, so when someone’s windows are highly tinted, people often assume you’re hiding something.
Selling drugs…in a gang…you know.
But almost everyone has them in Orlando…
And I don’t think all of them are selling something. At least not something illegal.
As I was running this week though, the thought occurred to me.
All of us…everyone of us…in every city…regardless of where you live…have tinted windows. To some extent.
We have tinted windows to our life.
Everyone has something to hide…
Something they’d rather everyone not know. Some secret. Some hidden pain. Some past mistake.
We all have tinted our windows. Some darker than others…But we all have a story we are hiding…or trying to hide.
Some we hide better than others.
That’s okay. Not everyone needs to know all our story. Sometimes it’s none of their business. Many times it’s none of their business.
But, here’s my experience. All of us need someone who sees behind the tinted windows. All of us need some people in our life who know the whole story. All of us need someone who loves us, but is willing to shine a light into our darkest places.
All of us.
Glad to listen to this Mr.Ron Edmondson.
Keep Sharing the content like this.
What a thought provoking piece, Ron. We want others to know us, yet we put up artificial walls making that more difficult. We want to know others, but can be stymied by the barrier. For protection…perhaps for comfort…whatever the reason, we need to make sure they don't stay up all the time. Or we may miss out.
Exactly Skip. Thank you.
I love this Ron. And you're right. We all hide behind a tint of one degree or another. And your comment about having/needing somone who not only sees behind the tint, but also knows the whole story is dead-on. It's a blessing to have those people who love us regardless. We need to strive to always pay that one forward. Great post!
Amen. Thank you Shelia.
So true..great analogy. You always make me think. Wonderful to hear you preach last week-end. We miss you and Cheryl so much!
Thanks Gail. Great to be there.