Today’s Scripture Reading (September
17, 2017): Luke 5
Kaley Cuoco
(Penny on the “Big Bang Theory”) is five feet six inches, which places her just
a couple of inches above the average height for a woman in North America. Two
inches is probably not significant, and to be honest,
she looks like the beautiful, delicate
woman that she probably is. However, place her against a particular subset of her “Big Bang” co-stars, and she begins to take on the characteristics of a giant
woman who has invaded the set. The problem is one of comparison. Of the three
female stars involved in the show, Kaley is a full two inches taller than Mayim
Bialik (Amy) and seven inches taller than the four foot eleven Melissa Rauch
(Bernadette). Even the guys struggle to measure up. Simon Helberg (Howard)
barely registers as taller than Kaley, and Kunal Nayyar (Rajesh) is just two
inches taller than the lead actress. Johnny Galecki, who plays her husband on
the show, is actually an inch shorter
than Kaley. And if Kaley is wearing heels, and she often is, then she is taller than any of this subset of
co-stars. So, if they are the only ones on the set, Kaley is huge. And in some
scenes, the effect is obvious. It is only
when the six foot one Jim Parsons (Sheldon) enters the room that Kaley begins
to look more – I hate to say it – normal.
Life is all about
comparisons. When I was younger, I stood six foot two, now that I am a little
older I seem to have shrunk a little. I was actually
six foot two when I was fifteen. Then I stopped growing. So for most of my
adolescence, I was the usually the tallest person in the world. And I have
noticed that when I am the tallest person in the room, I tend to curve my
shoulder and hunch down just a little bit. But when I am in a room filled with tall men, I stand a little straighter,
maybe in an unconscious effort to measure up.
There is
nothing in the Biblical story that leads me to the conclusion that Peter was not
a good man. Okay, sometimes his mouth was in gear while his brain was still in
neutral, but come on, we all have those moments. I know, I sometimes cringe at the things that I have said
– and done. But Peter could probably walk along the shores of the Sea of
Galilee and stand tall knowing that he measured up. He was just as good as his
friends, at least as a person. He might not have had the money of his business
partners James and John, but he knew his business,
and he took care of other people – always
striving to do whatever was right.
But all of
that changed the day that he met Jesus. He had never met anyone like him. And
no matter how tall he tried to stand, in the presence of Jesus there was no way that any of us would ever measure
up. So Peter’s response is natural – “get away from me, I have no right to be
in with you.” Of course, Jesus saw
something different in Peter. He saw the potential that God had placed in Peter’s
life from the very beginning. And Jesus wanted to tap into Peter’s potential.
The truth is
that when we meet Jesus if we don’t say “get
away from me. I have no right to be in your presence,” then we have not come
face to face with Jesus. But I also know that Jesus speaks about the same
potential over our lives – he tells us
that we are special, that we are his, and that he sees the same potential in us
that he saw in Peter. And the invitation still hasn’t changed. It is still come
and follow me.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: John 2
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