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Welcome to Stuff I Learned Yesterday. My name is Darrell Darnell, I once got to hold Jarvis Green’s Super Bowl rings from Super Bowls 38 and 39, and I believe that if you aren’t learning, you aren’t living. In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I share lessons I learned from stranding on a toilet.
Have you ever noticed that people look for answers in the most ridiculous places?
Today’s Fun Fact: Over the weekend Warner Brothers released the first trailer for the upcoming Justice League film. I have to admit, I am more than just a little excited to see it next fall. So here are some Justice League facts to help pass the time until November 17, 2017 when the movie releases.
- The Justice League was conceived by writer Gardner Fox, and first appeared in The Brave and the Bold #28 in 1960.
- The seven original members are Aquaman, Batman, the Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Superman, and Wonder Woman.
- In response to the success of The Justice League comics, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby decided to create their own super team: The Fantastic Four. That success lead to the creation of Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk, and eventually, The Avengers.
- Other members of the JLoA include Green Arrow, Atom, Hawkman, Black Canary, Phantom Stranger, Elongated Man, Red Tornado, Hawkgirl, Zatanna, Cyborg, Element Woman, Shazam, and Firestorm.
What I Learned Yesterday
To say that not much in the way of excitement happened in the small town in which I grew up is an understatement. When you’re in a town of about 850 people, there’s really not that much that goes on. Life is pretty peaceful and predictable.
Did I say predictable?
About 2 miles outside of town, nestled a stones throw off of old Rt. 66 was a very unassuming single wide mobile home. Many of the folks that lived in and around my hometown lived in mobile homes and so we never gave them a second thought.
One day people around school began talking about this one mobile home and how something special was taking place at this particular home after dark. According to rumors, the homeowner got up one night to use the bathroom. For reasons I never learned or can’t recall, the homeowner decided to close the lid of the toilet, stand on top of it, and look out the window. What he saw next was something that he believed to be a sign from God himself. He saw three crosses of glistening light out in his yard.
He shared his story with friends and neighbors and the small town rumor mill took care of the rest. People were not only talking about it at school, but at the grocery store, the post office, at the local churches and everywhere people congregate. Everyone was curious about the mysterious crosses of light and what they might mean. People were also curious to learn if it was even true.
The homeowner was not one to hide his light under a bushel. No, he opened up his house and invited anyone to come over, stand on his toilet and behold the crosses for themselves. It was incredible. Some people saw three crosses, others saw only two or even one cross. Some even saw zero crosses. How could that be we wondered? Some speculated that the number of crosses seen was directly related to how spiritually mature one was.
Believe it or not, the story even got picked up by one of the news stations in Oklahoma City. Once that happened, people from all over the surrounding counties came to see the sign from God. I have to admit, it was at this point that a friend of mine and I decided to go see the spectacle for ourselves.
We drove over to the location and found a place to park. There in this unassuming field was an unassuming mobile home with a line of people wrapped around it, all with the goal of getting their 20 seconds to stand on a toilet and look out a frosted glass window. As visitors approached the front porch they were invited to sign a guest registry to commemorate their visit.
When my moment on the pot came I peered out the window and saw it. I mean, I saw THEM! I saw 3 crosses of light! I then made my way outside and met up with my friend. We talked with others about what we’d all seen. Sure enough, some had seen all 3, others only 1 or 2. While some had seen no cross at all. People wondered out loud if there might be some sort of parallel to their spiritual maturity or if God was trying to tell them something.
Here’s what I learned.
Some of you might be wondering if I’m making this story up. As much as it seems like it might be fictional or even from an episode of The X-Files, I assure you that it is totally real. But are you really surprised? We as humans do these sorts of things all the time. Not only do we look for meaning in light reflections (there was a street lamp near the window that was causing the reflections in the glass), but we see the face of Jesus in toast, pancakes, tortillas, and even potato chips. We see the face of a man when we look at the moon or pictures of Mars.
We as people seek to find meaning in the most ridiculous places sometimes. And to be fair, we find answers and gain understanding through the simplest and most accidental ways quite often.
However, I think that we also look for answers in the wrong places a lot of times. We look for answers to come from other people.
As I look around the world, I see a lot of great things. I see a sea of humanity that cares deeply and loves unconditionally. Unfortunately this sea of beauty is often covered up by a pool of hatred. But I look at that pool of hatred and I see the incredibly deep and wide path of destruction it causes. For the sake of religion, people kill. Because of differences in melanin people spew hatred. Motivated by an elephant or donkey, people lie, slander, and demean. These things cause division. A people divided are easily conquered.
I know you see these things too. They play out in other ways also. We yell at others in traffic, disrespect those who serve us at restaurants, or tell our civic leaders to move the homeless people to a different part of town.
What’s the answer to all of this? Where do we go to find the answer?
Well I can tell you that the answer is not found by standing on a toilet. Like many of the answers to life’s problems, the answer is within YOU.
Are you tired of the sea of beauty being washed away by the pool of hate? Do you wish that people would show concern, patience, compassion, and love toward others? Do you long for the day that differences in religion, skin color, and politics no longer divide? Do you yearn for a day that we can be mature enough to acknowledge our differences but not give those differences the power to separate us?
I do.
Mahatma Gandhi once said, “We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. This is the divine mystery supreme. A wonderful thing it is and the source of our happiness. We need not wait to see what others do.” This quote is often misquoted in a much more simple statement: Be the change that you wish to see in the world.
So let me ask you, what will you do today, to be the change this world needs?
I’m Darrell Darnell, and this has been Stuff I Learned Yesterday.
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