OUT TO PASTOR: What a crazy world we live in

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.

We went shopping at the grocery store the other day, and when we came out and got into our vehicle, I was laughing. My wife looked at me and said, “What are you laughing about?”

“That lady in there,” I said, still laughing, “was wearing the craziest dress that I’ve ever seen. She sure was crazy.”

She looked at me, smiled and said, “You do know that was not a woman, don’t you?”

The smile disappeared from my face, and I just stared at her and said, “You’ve got to be kidding?”

I agree that people aren’t what they seem to be in real life. There appears to be a crazy virus, and it comes out just a little different for each individual.

It’s hard to comprehend the level of craziness that is in our world today. A mask cannot control this crazy virus, but it’s a start to cover up that crazy face.

There was some Hollywood celebrity – I don’t know who – but when they had their baby said that they would wait until the baby was old enough to make its own decision as to its gender. When I first heard that, I thought they were making a joke, but then I found out they were very serious about it.

When I heard that, I felt sorry for the baby that had to grow up in such a crazy family. If they are crazy about this, what else are they crazy about?

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.

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. 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.

The only challenge I see, at least for me, is the ability to control me and my crazy. I don’t want my crazy to control me and get me into trouble I can’t handle. But I want to understand my crazy and then use it for profitable purposes.

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 versus 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. Telephone (352) 216-3025, e-mail jamessnyder51@gmail.com. Website is www.jamessnyderministries.com.