Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

• 2 Corinthians 5:17

For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.

• 2 Corinthians 2:15

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

• Galatians 5:22-23

I had another dream that was a different version of my recurring dreams.  It was the same old stuff, and maybe the same old boss.  I was being berated over everything.  I was not focusing on my work.  I could do better. I was going to be fired, although firing me would eliminate nearly all of the group’s productivity.

Note: I had a boss say that to me.  Why did he want to fire me?  He was being allowed to do so, and I was chosen.  He was drunk with the power.

But back to the dream, all I could think of at the time was that if the boss would simply return to his office, I would be more productive.

But as the boss left, one of his minions picked up a stack of things on my desk and looked at the things with a sneer.  He put the things down and shook his head.

Then, I looked at what he had picked up.  I had no idea how those things got there.  The stack was a stack of two things.  On the bottom was a stack of one-dollar bills.  It was almost an inch thick.  The bills old, used bills.  Thus, there was no more than about $200 in the stack.

To me, $200 was a lot of money, cash money.  I had more in the bank, but I rarely ever had that much in my wallet.  If so, it was crisp new bills, $100 bills, to use on a business trip to China where my company credit cards were not accepted.  The hotel would only accept crisp new $100 bills, maybe a $50 bill in a pinch.  They would give us the equivalent in Chinese currency.  A wrinkle in the bill and it was not acceptable.

The other item in the stack was between twenty and thirty bookmarks.

As I wondered why they were there and why the minion sneered at them, it dawned on me what the management saw in me.

I had money.  I had money to throw around.  The managers above me would consider $200 pocket change and not worth their consideration.  But me having money laying on my desk meant that I did not need a pay raise.

I often went without pay raises, so often that new employees were paid more than I was paid, but management felt I was paid too much, especially since I had money sitting around.

And the bookmarks meant that I was more interested in reading my Bible, Bible studies, or a mystery novel during lunch.  Thus, my mind was on my lunchtime activity and not on work.

But this was all a matter of perception.  At my last job, my projects were known as big money makers, money for the company, not me.  I was efficient and never spent all the hours used in the estimate, the estimate that established the price.  Thus, my profit margins were the highest in the company.  It was an employer, many years before, when the boss wanted to fire me, when I was told that I produced more than ten times as much as the rest of the department, for the lowest pay.

Why was I so hated?

It comes down to 2 Corinthians 2:15.  We might be a pleasing aroma to God, but Christians are misunderstood in this world.  As such, the unbeliever might enjoy your productivity and quality of work, but they know deep down that your ultimate loyalty is in a God that they do not believe exists.  This unknown makes them uneasy, at best.

So, when they see the fruits of the spirit that you simply cannot hide, then they see it as a threat, not as a good thing.  Your pleasant attitude when they just did their best to make you so angry that a normal person would quit, they hate you all the more.

But we look upon them who hate us and we may not be perfect, but we try to love them.

So, they see bookmarks as a symbol of someone not 100% devoted to the job.  They see a stack of bills that show you would still work as hard with less money being paid to you.  Where those things would mean something completely different to someone that they liked and trusted.

It’s illuminating.  When you see what the other person sees, you can better understand.  It does not make the job easier, but you find ways to love the one persecuting you for righteousness. Not that I ever felt that righteous.

And what is noticed when you go about your day?

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.