Week 42 2013 Hats

One of my best friends recently conducted an interesting experiment at a mens retreat.  He carried fourteen different baseball caps to the retreat in his luggage.  Then, beginning Friday afternoon, he would wear a different hat periodically throughout the rest of the day and the rest of the weekend until someone noticed that he was wearing a different hat than he had been just a short time before.  It finally happened Saturday afternoon.  He was wearing a 49er hat, a young man commented on it, my friend went to his barracks, changed to a Raiders hat, went to play volleyball, and the same young man said, “Weren’t you wearing a different hat?”  My friend awarded him with a handmade pen.  He enjoyed his little game, as well as the giving of the pen.

Just how observant are we?  My wife will often ask me about someone at church or some other activity with friends and she is amazed at how little I know about what they were wearing or some other physical characteristic.  I have wondered if there is something wrong with my memory.  Then I ask her about something that I’m sure she will remember only to discover that she doesn’t.  Just about the time we begin to think old age is catching up with us, we ask our grandchildren about a recent event and discover that they don’t remember salient details that we think are so obvious anyone would be able to recall them.

Other than the few savants who are able to recall every detail of everything their five senses have taken in, most of us simply remember scattered details.  We seem to prioritize.  This is not a bad thing.  It is just a reality.  It actually speaks to our individuality.  God has made each one of us to be unique.  Which means we are all different and quite diverse.  It also means that we should never judge another based upon our own personal experience, because we will nearly always be wrong.  Let’s celebrate our diversity while learning from others’ observations and sharing our own for their edification.