I was a child of and with low expectations. I wasn’t born that way – I was taught to be that way. I heard the messages early on, first from my parents, then from some of my teachers, and I believed the messages – to a point. Most of the people in the little church I grew up in didn’t judge any of us – they just did their best to love us. The rest of the world, however, made judgments that weren’t always true, based on limited information. I was one of those wild child kids who couldn’t control himself – that’s called ADHD now – and the assumption that was usually made was that I, and others like me, should find alternatives to college. Which makes those alternatives seem inferior, which is a lie and a crime. I can craft an excellent sermon, but put up sheetrock? Not my best skill. Wire a house or fix plumbing? Nope. Every job is a vocation and should be respected as a gift to the world.
At some point, I figured out that the low expectations that were being used to keep me down were wrong, but it took a long time to do that. There were people along the way whose voices made it through the wall of doubt and inferiority thinking that was being built around me. I had to decide if the call I felt from God to be a pastor was right, or if most of the voices telling me no were. I had a choice to be who they believed I was, or who I – and, I thought, maybe God – thought I could be. Because it is too easy to fall prey to the low expectations of others, and my experience has been that it is the problem of adults, not children, that keeps them from becoming what they dream to become. No – we can’t be anything we want to be. My chances of dancing in the New York City Ballet were less than zero (not that I ever had that dream – I’m just being metaphorical!) But there are so many ways we can become something great.
I write this because I continue to see children being told that they aren’t enough. I continue to see adults put their own feelings of loss and failure on others. I continue to see cultural biases working against people for all the wrong reasons. If we are all made in the image of God with many different gifts and attributes, we deserve the chance to figure out where we can contribute the most. We can be raised with high expectations and realistic goals. We are all endowed with abilities to make the world better. As adults, we should be encouraging children – and their parents – on their journey. We should be teaching them that there are no small jobs, only small people, and that they can also contribute through communities of faith and public service. Otherwise, they might give up, and all of us would suffer if that happened. We should be learning that we are enough, not that we are worthless. That’s on us.
Prayer – Holy God, thank You for the diverse gifts we see all around us, and help us to appreciate all of them. Amen.
Today’s art is “The Kiva” by Leonel Calero.