Out Our Way: Who is More than What

Luke 9:48 - 'Whoever is least among you shall be the greatest'

Out our way, we sometimes mix with a few celebrities - and while some are stuck up snobs, most seem like decent folk who just want to be left alone. The snobs usually get taken down a notch because in Montana who you are is more important than "what" you are.

A friend who was from the Big Sky area told me of a time a big Hollywood type came into a local restaurant over that way. She decided to be a jerk because she was treated like everyone else. As the story goes she was upset she couldn't get the table she wanted when she wanted it and demanded to see the owner and loudly shouting at him, "Do you know who I am?" The owner said, "Yes I do - but do you know who I am? I'm the owner of this place and I am tossing you out! Git!"

Now, most celebrities aren't like that I hear. I have only met two movie stars personally (well, three, if you count Tennessee Ernie Ford who picked me up when I was about 2 with my mom in a grocery store and called me his "little pea picker"), and both were pretty decent. One was a movie/TV star who bought a ranch locally and worked with the Cancer Drive in town - and the other was a co-star with Kevin Costner in "Dances with Wolves." She was the matriarch of the herd of bison Kevin and the others chased in the film. She belonged to a local rancher who raised bison and invited me to play with her and the gang. She was very patient with me for a time and I chased some 80 head across the prairie for a few miles - and then she raised her tail, spun and snorted to tell me "play time was over." I took the hint and rode in the opposite direction.

I am not a celebrity, of course, so I can't say how I would handle it, but I imagine it is frustrating and hard with folks shoving cameras in your face, demanding selfies and autographs, and basically never leaving you alone. Thus I have a special admiration for those folks put with it and remain regular folks. I tip my battered cowboy hat to those folks that somehow remain focused on being more focused on who they are than what. How sad some folks confuse the two.  

Do I know what I am? A nobody - an old retired preacher and one-time cowhand. That's about it. Ah, but do I know who I am? Plain old Brother John to all I meet, a wanna-be disciple of Jesus Christ, and servant of the Most High. As the meme has it,  "Please be patient with me. I am a work in progress. God isn't finished with me yet."

Be blessed and be a blessing!

Brother John 

--

The Rev. John Bruington is the retired pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Havre. He now lives in Colorado, but continues to write "Out Our Way." He can be reached for comment or dialogue at [email protected].