Some Folks Are Sandpaper – They Rub Against Your Grain
Ed, my neighbor next door, was impressed to find out that we will be off to British Columbia for a two week holiday. Being a hunter Ed likes the idea of a mountain wilderness teeming with elk, moose and deer waiting to challenge the hunters who come after them there. He can also visualize in his mind’s eye the thrill of catching huge salmon that he can brag about for years. Ed is eager for us to visit BC. He is also eager for us to buy property there, so he can visit us and go hunting. Ed has family scattered around Alberta, but no family in British Columbia.
I told Ed that the trouble with moving is that you never know what kind of neighbor you might get beside you. Ed confirmed that new neighbors are a possible hazard when you move, as some neighbors, are like sandpaper, who can rub you the wrong way. In fact, Ed added that some folks are rough to take no matter where you are. He doesn’t believe in travelling far or moving, because at least you know the persons you are dealing with when you stay close to home. Ed says that you may as well deal with the devil you know as go somewhere new and tangle with a new one.
I told Ed we will be visiting Chilliwack, Abbotsford and Nanaimo BC, and that I wasn’t sure they would be good places for hunters. Ed was disgusted as he said that all the places I mentioned were too close to the city of Vancouver. There is another problem with Nanaimo, according to Ed, and that is that you have to take a ferry to get to it on Vancouver Island. Ed said that I just didn’t understand how confining and suffocating it can be to live on an island. I told Ed that there are problems to living anywhere. Life is best wherever you are if you have people that you love. Our one daughter and her family will be meeting us in BC, and mountains, rivers, islands, cities, etc. will all be second place to being with our family. Distance separates us from our daughter and her family in Washington State, but getting together only makes our love for each other sweeter.
Ed is doubtful about the importance of love. He claims he has lots of family that he would really love not to see. He believes that anyone can love family you seldom see. The more often you see your family, and are with them, the less likely you are to be sweet on them. He says that some family members can be irritating after two minutes, others after two days, and two weeks can mean they rubbed away any liking you ever had for them.
We can find it hard to love our family members at times. I also know that there are times when I’m downright unlovable myself. No one is lovable all the time except God, who is love. He loves the unlovable. In love, he sent his Son Jesus Christ to save sinners. You cannot earn God’s love he gives his love in Jesus to anyone who will receive it. His love is truly amazing because it’s limitless.
