Right Back At You!

Right Back at You!

Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable.

Romans 12:17

My dear friend Paula is one of the few people I know who can really wear a hat with class and style. She can sport a wide-brimmed picture hat with the flamboyant confidence and sweet grace of the original Southern belle. She looks great and knows it. And she really doesn’t care whether anybody else likes her hat or not.

Me? I feel like an idiot in a big hat. I just don’t have what it takes to wear one well. I talked to Paula about it one day, and she said it’s not so much about the hat itself—it’s the hattitude with which you wear it that makes it work. And she’s right!

In London, England, the famous artist Whistler was standing bareheaded in a prestigious hat shop. He was waiting patiently while the clerk of the shop was searching for the right hat in Whistler’s size.

Suddenly the shop door flew open, and a short, red-faced man with a large waistline burst into the shop. Mistaking Whistler for the shop clerk, he exploded, “See here, you. This hat does not fit!”

Whistler, not at all flustered by the rude man, casually eyed him from head to foot. Then he drawled out, “Well, frankly, sir, neither does your coat. What’s more, if you’ll pardon my saying so, I’ll be hanged if I care much for the color of your trousers.”

The temptation to respond in kind to rude people is strong, isn’t it? At times we really like the old “eye for an eye” rule. And yet, Jesus taught us to turn the other cheek and not repay evil for evil. He called us to respond in unnatural ways—to show the world what honor looks like.

Thank you, Lord, for your example of how to treat other people, even the rude ones whom we encounter. May we always respond with honor and love. Amen.