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RUDY SHEPTOCK OCTOBER 11 2024

As long as I can remember, there have always been bullies in this world. As a kid, I remember how Butch terrorized the other Little Rascals with his tactics of intimidation. Poor Alfalfa didn’t have a chance as a crooner to one up the neighborhood brawler. In almost every story we were told or program that we watched, there was always a mean someone waiting in the wings to spoil a perfect day. Laura Ingalls had Nellie Oleson. Charlie Brown had Lucy. George Bailey had Mr. Potter. Dorothy had the Wicked Witch of the West. Robin Hood had the Sheriff of Nottingham. Popeye had Bluto. The Wacky Racers had Dick Dastardly. Eliot Ness had Al Capone. Jerry the mouse had Tom the cat. David the shepherd boy had the giant Goliath. Poor Bambi had to deal with all mankind. Maybe you too had someone who tried to steal your lunch money, cheat off your test paper, beat you up on the playground or just show up to turn your laughter into pain and shame. I wish I could tell you that people grow up out of it but adults are just as bad as the kids are in this department. In many ways, current politic has become nothing more than who will bully who better.

There is nothing worse than allowing this injustice to take place on your watch. While the sin nature of humanity will make sure that the stronger picking on the weaker will never go out of style, we can do something about it. Most bullies are insecure at heart and will cave in when they see that there are more of them then there is of him or her. Confronting the perpetrator is a must to nip this sort of bad behavior in the bud. There is always strength in numbers but unfortunately crowds are in the habit of picking the wrong side when it comes to doing the right thing. When the crowd is stomping in the wrong direction, that is always a good time to make it less crowded and start a new advocate group of your own. The only reason that there have been too many examples of others doing the wrong thing is because not enough people had the courage to step up and do the right thing. My motto goes along the lines that while I may not be able to prevent all bad behavior, I can do something about what is happening on my watch. Like if you use the restroom and don’t wash your hands, be sure I will challenge you on this issue before you reach the exit door. Wash your hands already!

As I have written before, I come from an unusual family where my parents had seven children of their own and then legally adopted thirty more children. I was the first born of twenty seven boys and ten girls. Many of these siblings were born with physical challenges that society simply labels as handicaps. I have two brothers with Down-Syndrome named Martin and Isaac. I have always said that maybe in heaven everyone will have Down Syndrome because there is a kindness and a capacity to love within them that I wish I had. One day we were out having pizza at a restaurant when all of a sudden a group of teens at the next table began making fun of my brothers. They were in full mocking mode. This is when my inner spirit goes into overdrive. While some might say to just ignore it, God didn’t write me that way. I immediately got up from my chair and walked over and without hesitation told them to knock it off or bodies would begin to fly out of this establishment. Did I mention I’m a pastor? Ignorance that is not addressed will never heal itself on its own. If I remember correctly, even Jesus turned over a table or two when the religious hypocrites turned His Father’s House into a local department store. Sometimes just acknowledging the act of bullying puts the spot light on someone who normally gets away with it because its doings are kept under the rug. Lift up that carpet and get rid of all the dirt! No short-cuts allowed.

I did an activity last night for all adults at our weekly Wednesday Family Fun event. I had everyone sitting at the tables get a nice clean sheet of white paper. I then instructed everyone to write their names nice and big on the sheet before them. I then proceeded to tell them to write the things they liked most about themselves. I then shared that they should pass that piece of paper to other family and friends at the table so they too could add positive aspects and qualities about them. By now, this project should be suitable for framing and placed somewhere prominent so the individual could be reminded of their worth and value. But I didn’t allow that to happen. I then asked them to give their paper to someone they didn’t know and that stranger was to grab it and crumple up that paper as tightly into a ball as they could without ripping it. Then they were to toss that ball of a ruined work of art back to the original owner. At this time I asked everyone to try to smooth out the paper as close as they could back to its original shape. All the words still could be seen but not without wrinkles and some damage done to what at once was perfect. Needless to say, the object lesson was to show us that God creates us in His image as wonderful masterpieces and works of divine art but the cruelness of this culture and the potshots it takes does its best to vandalize with nasty graffiti what the Lord intended to shine bright.

I am in the habit of doing my very best to intentionally build up the ones I love and make them feel safe and secure in my presence. As a preacher and a teacher and someone who knows that words actually cause more damage than sticks and stones ever do, we need to be proactive in listening to our loved ones and allowing them to vent and share and be honest about how they feel when they are out of our sight. This goes for the youngest to the oldest within our sphere of influence. An angry customer, a driver with road rage, a teen with an agenda, a child who has been hurt so often that the only way they know how to react is by hurting others, we have got to be willing to see below the surface and not just to react to the tantrum but respond in such the way that we can reset the switch in another person. And if you see someone standing all alone whether it is in school or the workplace and they are being mistreated because of their race, their lot in life, their looks or their inability to fit in, make that solo act a duet and then a trio and then a quartet and prayerfully a band of brothers and sisters who make sure that nobody stands alone!