Hi. I'm Weatherly, and I'm a jerk.

Hi. I'm Weatherly, and I'm a jerk.

"Hi, Weatherly"

Yep, the Aardvark 'fesses up! But why?
I just had a dee-LIGHTful weekend in Mobile, AL, at Mobicon, a little SF convention in its eighth year. (http://www.mobicon.org/) You can see the broad picture there. Saw an old con pal from way back, Tim Riley, cartoonist and entrepreneur extraordinaire. (http://www.trnco.com/index.html)
He and his wife were a huge blessing to me. My sweet wife, the Momoovark, had instructed me to go to the con and relax. I set up our shirts, and sold, but spent a vast amount of time talking, schmoozing, reminiscing, and making new friends. (Shout out to Jeff! http://www.celiaentertainment.com/bresbio.html) I relaxed. Good call, Momoovark!
The con is run by a couple of other con friends of mine, who happen to have what is referred to as an alternate lifestyle. (They insist on white wine with beef. I don't know why I put up with them...) I have friends who are irreligious, friends who are pagan, friends who eat it in a car, friends who drink it in a bar. I have friends who I print t-shirts for.

These people love me. Or like me a whole lot. Amazingly.
Now some of these guys may read this, and wonder "What's not to like?".
And I have to admit...I'm charming. Sincerely so; I'm really not a schmoozer in the classic sense. (Classsic schmoozing on Lite 96.3...)
Expressively friendly, smiling, happy most of the time. Ebullient, even.
What's not to like?

I look back to when I was a kid in college and I cringe at what I was...hyper-opinionated, unpleasantly so, self-righteous. Judgmental.
I won't bore with the details.
Now, the trick is, I am a Christian...and was then.
I'm just older, now.
I'm more mature.
Mellow. er.
I don't have the call to JUDGE. I only have the call to present Christ.
My friends are now confused, as I have not yet induced blunt-force trauma on any of them with a ten-pound King James.
Christ loves them all. I must love them all. And I do. Not in a self-serving ego-stroking "I am loving them with the Love of JEEEEEEEEE-Zus!" Real, "It's SO good to see you again!" love.
But the question remains...why do these people love me?

Because I have changed.
Christ has changed me over the decades.
Decades.
Slowly, Jesus changes those who are His into His image. Not all at once, but change over time, as we yield, as we bow the knee to our Lord in each area of our lives.
Why do these people love me?
Because, whether they know it or not, they love the Jesus in me.
If they honestly do not see Weatherly the jerk, well...
It's His fault.