Still checking the sign

Just got in about 1AM Monday morning from our grandparenting trip to beautiful Sweden, and my eyes have been feeling the seven-hour time difference.  Our number two granddaughter has been referred to by her parents as “half cowboy” (our daughter being American) and “half Viking” (our son-in-law being Swedish).  No problem—we bought the pappa an authentic cowboy hat a few years back and the momma is getting used to finding rune-stones sticking up out of nowhere in the fields.

Bob and I are not exactly seasoned international travelers, and although I try to culturally sensitive, I am still a loud American.  Personal space, modes of dress and presentation, expectations in interacting—all of these things need to be taken into account.  I don’t want to embarrass my daughter!

I did notice one thing that had not changed, however, to my relief: I still needed to look at the male/female signs posted outside the restrooms in all three airports of Kansas City, Chicago and Stockholm.  Not something to be taken for granted anymore.

I don’t mean that as a political statement, or even necessarily a comment on right vs. wrong.  Both of those layers exist, of course, but the gender issue in recent years is a symptom of something far deeper.  Paul makes an interesting point…

Think carefully about what is right, and stop sinning. For to your shame I say that some of you don’t know God at all.

I appreciate that part about thinking carefully.  Look at some of the synonyms of the word “care”:

• Precaution
• Watchfulness
• Alertness

He is obviously writing to those who call themselves Christians.  His comment also intimates the important step that observable behaviors are indicative of how we think, and more importantly, how we think is based primarily on our level of intimacy with God.

It has been mentioned if something is repeated often enough, people begin to think of it as reality, truth, or just socially acceptable.  So who’s doing my actual thinking for me?

Thinking well about any subject is becoming a lost art, but it doesn’t have to be so.  It begins with bringing our minds under the renewal which has been provided for us by our Creator.  He alone can adequately bring us into not only the “what” of our days, but more significantly, the “why”.

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

…including which restroom to use.

1 Corinthians 15:34; Romans 12:2 Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.