Rudolph...and me

Rudolph, the rednosed Reindeer and his friend, Hermy, the elf, who just wanted to be a dentist. Initially, they both were denied their dreams all because of being labeled a misfit.



Back in 1964, a children's Christmas TV show was born from a song sung by Gene Autry. This show, about a reindeer who was bullied and eventually ran away to escape the sorrow of being labeled a misfit, became loved by people everywhere.

Then came the PC police and now we are "told" that this is offensive and shouldn't be shown.

I have a note to those who have fallen for this: Just Stop!

If you watch the show, you will see that it is through a series of meeting with others, who also have been labeled "misfits," that an appreciation begins to grow for who they are as individuals. There are more out there than first thought and together, they saved Christmas eve for Santa!
When I grew up, I was also labeled by my own mother. Negative words that hurt so much being hurled at me day after day....slowly I began to die inside. I felt that I could do nothing right, only because my mother felt that all I was was a burden to her. Slowly, a resolve grew within me, one that said, "I'll show you!" I have since become an author, publishing books that inspire others to see beyond the titles life seems to want them to have. We are all given gifts by God to use for good...I have risen above the pain of my past.

Labels. I dislike them, because once you put a label on something, that is all you see: your expectations of how things should be. Labels keep our thoughts focused on the here and now, not on the possibilities of what can become. Does this make sense?

Take a child with autism. "Oh goodness, now Junior will be stuck forever inside his head, unable to play football!" am I right? Isn't that what YOU think when you hear that term? yet look at how many with autism shine, they just find another way! Kids with autism have become awesome musicians! Mathematicians! Artists! and more.

It's the same with Down's syndrome. Many feel that, after hearing the possibility a baby has Downs' syndrome through an amniocentesis test, automatically think, "there is no hope!" I am here to say, there IS! Down's syndrome babies are adorable, they have so much positive energy that they bring forth to all they meet! I have seen several young gals who are now walking the beauty pageant floor, shining from within! It brings tears to my eyes when others have nothing but shallow feelings towards someone they have labeled, "less than."

Jesus admonished all of us, "let the little children come to Me and do not try to stop them, for the Kingdom of heaven is for such as these!" He also told us to BE like little children! Little children have so much hope, faith and love. The apostle Paul said the greatest of these IS love! With all of the gifts endowed to them by God....why do we doubt their place in our world?

Less than? Hardly!

They were created in the image AND likeness of God.