by Dr. James L. Snyder
Driving home from an appointment across town, my wife and I encountered some crazy driver weaving in and out on the road in front of us. The fact that there was not an accident was somewhat surprising.
“What,” The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage exclaimed, “is wrong with people?”
Looking at her and laughing, I said, “People today are crazy!”
Together we laughed, knowing it was true. If there ever has been a time that people were crazy, it is today.
What a crazy world we live in these days. Just when you think it can’t get any crazier, it does.
It seems to me that each generation has its own definition of crazy. Each generation gets crazier with their definition probably to out-crazy the former generation.
Someone told me, “One’s crazy is another person’s laughter.” The crazy people out there in the world cause so much laughter.
I’m not sure how you would define crazy. Each person has a different strain of craziness. The best way to define crazy is something that looks and sounds odd to the person watching and listening.
Someone may be looking at me, thinking I’m crazy. But, of course, to a certain degree, they are correct. Everybody is crazy in their own right. So we have a right to be crazy.
As long as my crazy doesn’t adversely affect someone else, what’s the harm?
I learned a long time ago not to be offended when someone refers to me as crazy. Most of my relatives refer to me as crazy, but I’m never offended.
Just the other day, The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage suggested that crazy was inherited. Therefore, it’s not my fault that I’m crazy. I can think of several uncles and cousins that are as crazy as crazy can be.
Growing up with these relatives around me, I did not know or understand that their craziness would rub off on me. I just laughed at them and walked away, thinking I was okay.
As I studied my family heritage, I realized that although crazy is inherited through family links, I have an opportunity to choose my crazy. I never thought about that before. But, I am as crazy as I choose to be.
There is somebody out there in the world who needs to experience me and my crazy to feel good about themselves. They can look at me and think, “I may be crazy, but at least I’m not that crazy.” If I can do that each day, I’m doing an incredible amount of work for the human population.
So, the last few years, I’ve been trying to hone my crazy to have at least some positive results with the people around me.
Thinking about this and looking back over the last few years some of my encouragement has come from people who I first thought were just being crazy. Sometimes crazy does have a purpose.
I thought about a special scripture that addresses this. “Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do” (1 Thessalonians 5:11).
I don’t have to know who I’m encouraging but sometimes my crazy activities do in fact encourage somebody along the way. Only in heaven will I realize how many people I have encouraged this way.
Dr. James L. Snyder lives in Ocala, FL 34483 with the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage.
www.jamessnyderministries.com.
