Gregory James was uncommonly strange but somehow they knew, it should be no other way He compared himself not to other men we see but instead to the man he knew he could be
The people at Gregory James’ funeral didn’t know each other but as they told stories about him they knew it had to be the same guy. He owned no TV because, he said, it would distract him from what really mattered. He tipped 50% at restaurants and he usually knew the life story of his server before he left. He ate ramen and PBJs when he could so he’d have more money to give away in different ways. He wrote prayer poems to recite for each of his friends every day. He took chalk with him wherever he went so that he could write encouraging messages on sidewalks. He took a year off to shadow 20 people at different jobs- because he wanted to make sure he didn’t miss his calling. He would not fire his employees when there was no work. He wrote an autobiography before he died but it was just about the lives of the people that had been in his life! It seemed everyone knew this uncommon man, and no one knew another person like him.
For Roscoe Jones, if most people think he is cool, he feels he’s probably winning the game. When he gets to work five minutes late, but still before his coworkers, he considers it success. He likes to be the one who contributes the most in the conversation about last night’s TV shows. His circle of friends all wear similar sports coats and ripped jeans when they go out. He rock climbs and camps because secretly he wants to post on eHarmony that he is outdoorsy. He lowered his Honda Civic even though the bumper scrapes on dipping driveways. He goes home and watches TV at night to kill time, because he is bored of this game. bored with life. Maybe he’ll get some rest from all this, he says, when he’s dead.
One thing that was different between Gregory James and Roscoe Jones is this. Roscoe compares himself to the people around him and evaluates his success by the society he lives in. Greg compares himself to the man he could be-that God has uniquely patented him to become. He knew that his identity and purpose was best found in the eyes of his creator, and he did his best to find and become that for which he was designed.
Raw Spoon
