There’s this scene in the movie Scrooged where the main character, Frank Cross (played by Bill Murray), is being shown Christmas present (you know-–Christmas past, Christmas present, and Christmas future?) by the "Ghost of Christmas Present" (played by Carol Kane).In this scene, they are looking in at Frank’s brother’s home. The brother, James, and his wife are hosting a holiday get-together and James is sharing his hope (that Frank will come to the party) with his realistic and somewhat cynical wife. She is at once protective of her husband and his feelings, as well as somewhat condemning of Frank. The thing that stands out to me in this scene is the hope that James Cross shows...the implacable faith he places in his brother and the unconditional love he has for Frank despite the terrible way that Frank treats him.
Admit it: We all know someone who is really hard to get along with. Everything always seems to be about them. Logic is obviously not even their Facebook friend. They are unreasonable at the best of times. They are hard to love...sometimes really hard to love.
When I was a young mother, I attended a congregation in which the women had "Secret Sisters." Have you ever played that? You put your name on a piece of paper and put it in a bowl. Then everyone comes and draws a name out, and that person is your Secret Sister. The rules are different sometimes, but the general deal is that you get them a card or small gift on holidays and for their birthday, anniversary, etc. But the biggest thing is that you commit to pray for them for one year. Every day for one whole year, you lift your Secret Sister up to the heavenly Father, asking Him to bless her.
So, I was game. I put my name in the bowl along with many others. When it came time to draw a name out, I drew the name of someone...wait for it...someone I didn’t like. In fact, there could not have been two people any more opposite than Debbie Thornton and me. We had absolutely nothing in common. And here I was, committed to praying for her EVERY DAY for ONE WHOLE YEAR!
At the end of that year, I will tell you that Debbie and I still had nothing in common. We didn’t have the same friends. We didn’t go to the same places. In fact, we never even saw each other very much, except for church--and not even all the time.
But I will also tell you that my attitude totally changed about her. God had worked on my heart during that year.
- Sheree Yasko Hill
