Say It Ain't So, Sweet Clementine!

Hey Y'all! I hope you have all been blessed with cool Fall evenings, plenty of pumpkins to carve, and vibrant mums to plant! Even though the changing of seasons is subtle here, we do have a decent window of weeks here where we actually can see God adjusting His color pallet! We have continued to have a wetter than usual Fall this year, but it has still been quite beautiful.

This afternoon was another rainy, Fall afternoon...so I snuggled up with my puppies and my computer and decided to catch up with e-mails, journaling, and facebook....and as evidenced by this post...blogging!

While socially stalking all my dear friends on facebook, one of my director friends from the theatre, who is also one of my facebook friends, sent me a quiz to try out.....called "Your American Accent". Being from South Carolina, having a name like Scarlett, and coming from a most adorable border-line redneck family....well...it seemed like a no brainer to me what the results would be.....but I took it anyway. AND Y'ALL......It said that I had A NORTHERN ACCENT.......Say it ain't so Clementine!!! I could not believe it....so....being the doubting Thomas of my bunch....I retook the quiz.....and yep....it came back with the same results!

Now let me clarify...there is absolutely nothing wrong with having a Northern Accent....I think they are just lovely. I love all kinds of accents....as a matter of fact....I could listen to Hugh Jackman's Aussie accent from now until Jesus calls me home, and never get tired of it. It's just that anyone who knows me.....knows I am as Southern sounding as they come. (Not to be confused with the deep down in the boondocks accent that most American actors use...and THINK they are doing a Southern Accent. If you saw Nicole Kidman and Renee Zellweger in "Cold Mountain", you know what I am saying!) And while I am not as richly Southern as say.....my Charleston relatives....I am still pretty daggone southern sounding.

The first time this was ever blatantly evident to me, was just after we signed with a small Christian Record Label. The artist relations and corporate offices were on the west coast. All I had to get out of my mouth, was "Hey"....and they would immediately know who I was! I even tried to NOT sound southern...and say "Hello"...and they would still recognize the accent! Needless to say....we were immediately hooked up with an excellent vocal/voice coach....who was quite relieved to discover that although our speaking voices were BLATANTLY Southern, our singing vocals were not.

So, obviously, the quiz was inaccurate. Just a template of ten word/vowel related questions, used to quickly evaluate a person who uses a million words a day. (If you think I am over estimating that number....just ask my hubby :) )

But I ask you to think about this.....How often do we jump to conclusions....or make up our minds about folks....based on a small subset of circumstances of who we think they are? You've probably done it....I know, ashamedly, I have done it. I am not talking about accents here....I am talking about characteristics that make up a complex personality as a whole. Some folks get really nervous when they meet you for the first time, and easily make awkward first impressions. Some folks are shy, and come across as stuck up. Occasionally, some folks get excited and loud when they are passionate (that would be me), and some folks might happen to be having a really bad day....and you walk up on it. It happens.

I have unfairly evaluated folks, and yes I have had folks unfairly do the same to me.

When we do that, we are no different than that silly little FaceBook Quiz.

God calls us to Love, not evaluate (a kind way of saying "judge") our brothers and sisters. His commandments clearly call us to love...first and foremost....Him....The Lord our God....and then almost contiguously he commands us to love our neighbors as ourselves. No where in His word have I found a "Quiz" to use.....and I am so glad of that....Because as evidenced by the "Accent Quiz" I took.....I would fail miserably.

So my challenge to you this week, is this. Take time to get to know someone who you are pretty sure you do not care to get to know. Ask yourself why you do not want to spend time with them. Ask God to show you something incredibly amazing about that person. They were created in His image you know....that alone should be enough.

God cares passionately about each of us...No matter what our accent. We too, should take time to care for one another.

Later, yooz guys..... :)

~Scarlett, from the South





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