Now that I’ve experienced my first Christmas I’m not only familiar with it but fascinated, too. It’s one of those special times that makes me wonder how anyone could lose their fascination with it.
Pop was talkin’ ’bout this young man who did the preachin’ the other day at church (I have to stay home and watch the house while him and the missus go there) and how he focused on folks sometimes gettin’ so familiar with Jesus that they lose their fascination with the miracle of how He got here and why He left.
Pop took the topic a step further and was sayin’ how easy it is for folks to take others for granted, too. The sayin’ that “familiarity breeds contempt” seems to be the catch phrase.
Recently Pop stepped down from a position where he’d been doin’ some real good things for quite a while. He said that one of the factors that motivated him to leave was the fact that some of the other folks were so used to him bein’ one of those 10% who do 90% of the work (like lots of organizations) that he’d just gotten tired of being treated like a minion.
Now Pop would be the first to tell you that he doesn’t always need or even want a pat on the back but he is one of those old school Marines that demands appropriate respect. This ain’t one of those “my station in life is higher than yours” situations. But, you gotta admit, when folks are accomplished and have a life history of gettin’ things done, they deserve some consideration. Unfortunately, from time to time a whippersnapper comes along that feels like he’s got somethin’ to prove and whether it’s because he feels a little intimidated, envious or just has the urge to flex his muscles, he’ll push a little too hard. And Pop will be the first to tell ya that he don’t suffer fools lightly.
Anyway, the point is that it’s important to not take folks that do good things on a regular basis for granted. It ain’t necessary to be fascinated but we sure ought to not figure that familiar means outdated.