A Nickname

 

If you don't remember David from the Paw Paw Village Players, perhaps the two of you ought to become acquainted. (http://firstjohnoneseven.wordpress.com/2010/02/24/david/)

It's been almost a year since I wrote that, and the thought of David mostly brings back vague memories- except for one.

...Okay, more than one. He was the first and only person who has ever asked me out. *Shudder.* Let us set that thought aside.

Thank you.

ANYway, on this particular occasion, I just happened to be stuck backstage alone with this autistic young man who loved death metal and supposedly had a problem with pornography. I was about to move to a more populated area when he spoke.

"I have a nickname for you," he smiled.

The look on my face must've accidentally revealed how I felt about that.

"It's not bad or anything," he assured me.

"What is it?" I said in a voice about that loud after an extremely awkward silence.

"Pure, because I think you're one of the purest people here."

Pure?

He of all people had actually noticed that I was striving to stay pure amidst all of the lude, immodest, revolting behavior that our cast exhibited? I had always felt out of place because of it, and no one really seemed to notice me most of the time. It was a difficult struggle- you could either be well-liked or mostly ignored because of the way you dressed and the things that you laughed about. Often I felt Jesus tugging at my heart and pulled the opposite direction just because I was tired of the fact that no one seemed to care about me very much.

Well, almost two years later, I can fully attest to the fact that I have no regrets except for the times that I didn't listen to Jesus. Shorter shorts may have made me slightly more popular, but they did nothing in the way of pulling me closer to His heart. I wish that I had let myself fall into His arms instead of letting the world confuse me at every turn.

No matter how difficult the struggle, strive for a pure heart. You may feel as if the effort goes unnoticed, but if even impoverished, autistic actors take note of it, then I have a feeling that everyone else might, too.

^"Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation. Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life." Philippians 2:14-16