A funny thing happened on the way to the Catalyst Conference

So some friends and I are in Atlanta at the yearly Catalyst Conference. It’s a big Christian party, basically, filled with great worship and inspiring people. On the way from the airport we all boarded a shuttle to bring us to the baggage claim. Everyone got on board and grabbed a bar except for me. For some reason I opted not to grab a bar...Figured I would just freewheel it. You know, surfer style. Cuz that’s how I roll. I literally thought my balance was…that good.

The train started and pushed me back a step—which would have been fine, except there was a very old lady behind me. In a wheel chair. Not kidding, in a wheel chair. When I stepped back my foot got caught on her footrest. And boy did I fall.  Epic fall.  I fell on her and onto the floor. Two guys kind of caught me just as I was hitting the ground. They were laughing at me as they held me up.

I immediately felt bad for the little old lady. She looked like she felt bad, so I said: “That’s ok! That’s ok! I’m fine!” (I wasn’t actually fine.  My ego had a major bruise on it.) But then she said in a very angry tone: “NO! It’s NOT fine!” In front of my friends and strangers, she then informed me of just how silly I was, and also on the merits of holding onto the bar. “That is,” she said “why they are there."

Ok, so I guess the point is this. In every day moments in life, you and I have a choice. We have a choice to catch people when they are falling, or knock them down some more. It’s often tempting to revel in someone else’s mistakes or ignorance, or failure. But wouldn’t it be better if we took the time to build them up instead? I mean, let's really go out of our way to live out our faith with words and deeds!

What do you think?