An old idiomatic expression from the 1800's declares, "You can't put a square peg in a round hole." While the genius behind that saying remains anonymous the implication is obvious: "Some times there are those among us who just don't fit."
Question: Is that a bad thing?
Answer: No. It's a good thing.
History is replete with individuals who struggled to fit into some expectant norm only to find themselves on the cutting edge of revolutionary innovation. Bill Gates with Microsoft, Steve Jobs with Apple, Mark Zukerberg with Facebook, and Jeff Bezos with Amazon, represent such forward thinking world changers.
While it's true the aforementioned belong to a rather elite fellowship of square pegs who leveraged great success into tremendous wealth, a brief survey reveals three of the four dropped out of college without earning a degree. (Gates, Jobs and Zukerberg)
With our recent celebration of Christmas I'm taken back to first century Palestine where from a humble village and quaint carpenter's shop there emerged a square peg named Jesus of Nazareth. By all accounts He was a reject. John tells us, " He was in the world and the world was made by Him, but the world knew Him not. He came unto His own and His own received Him not..."
He was a reject who did not fit the status quo, yet when they crucified him they printed his name in three languages. He remains the single most controversial person in the history of mankind, who in the words of Phillip Yancey, "...so graced the instrument upon which He died it has become the most recognized religious symbol in the world today."
If at times you've felt like a square peg drifting in a sea of round holes wondering if perhaps you will ever fit in... do yourself a favor. Don't look down. Look up! You're in good company!
While it's true the aforementioned belong to a rather elite fellowship of square pegs who leveraged great success into tremendous wealth, a brief survey reveals three of the four dropped out of college without earning a degree. (Gates, Jobs and Zukerberg)
With our recent celebration of Christmas I'm taken back to first century Palestine where from a humble village and quaint carpenter's shop there emerged a square peg named Jesus of Nazareth. By all accounts He was a reject. John tells us, " He was in the world and the world was made by Him, but the world knew Him not. He came unto His own and His own received Him not..."
He was a reject who did not fit the status quo, yet when they crucified him they printed his name in three languages. He remains the single most controversial person in the history of mankind, who in the words of Phillip Yancey, "...so graced the instrument upon which He died it has become the most recognized religious symbol in the world today."
If at times you've felt like a square peg drifting in a sea of round holes wondering if perhaps you will ever fit in... do yourself a favor. Don't look down. Look up! You're in good company!
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I wrote and posted this to Facebook just after Christmas and since that time have given the proposition considerable thought and come to a conclusion that never in my life have I felt more like a square peg.
The frustrating question is..."So, what's a guy to do?"
My wife calls it a mid-life crises, but I'm convinced there's more to it. I'm 51 years old and realize some men struggle with significance and call everything into question around this time and station in life. However, the water I'm treading seams to run a little deeper.
When I was 30 years old my wife and I uprooted our three children and relocated 5000 miles to Alaska where we spent 15 years pastoring a church and experiencing another part of the world. While that move came at great cost and with much sacrifice... we have no regrets. It was Awesome!
That move was somewhat birthed out of discontent. We knew there was a calling on our life and ministry to do something different and at the time did not realize we were just a couple of square pegs.
This time around... there's no longing of the heart to invade another part of the world. North Carolina is home and we are happy to have returned. However, something is pulling at the heart strings and the mystery of it is wearing on me.
If anything I'm saying resonates with any of you readers I'll sign off with....
Happy to meet you. One square peg to another.
