Reputation

Metro Richmond Zoo   Copyright: 2011 singeronthesand

And we know that in all things God works

for the good of those who love Him,

who have been called according to His purpose.

Romans 8:28

I was raised in the household of a loving but silent father, and an overbearing mother with extremely conservative religious views.  By the time I reached high school age, I was ready for a little wholesale rebellion.  I was a day student at a denominational boarding school in Scottsdale – far removed from my mother’s presence. 

My behavioral mutinies were extremely mild by today’s standards, but for my ultra-conservative educational institution, it was no less than heresy: hiding on the floorboards or in the tiny “trunk” of my friend’s 1964 T-bird convertible to escape campus for a little decent nourishment;  kissing my current flame out behind the gym or the front oleander hedge; crossing the invisible gender segregation line in the middle of campus at inappropriate times; being discovered at night on the road behind the boy’s dorm, talking through the window to the “inmates” locked inside, then running out into the desert to avoid being caught; placing clear plastic film underneath the toilet seat in the teacher’s bathroom; hiking my skirt up above my knees for class, then rolling it down before reaching the principal’s office; setting off tiny firecrackers in geometry class; beginning the humming chorus during English.  I was so bloomin’ tired of being forced to be “good,” that I loved being creatively, mildly “bad.”

Many years later, I called back to the Registrar’s Office to make arrangements for a transcript to be sent for graduate school.  When the older woman who answered the phone asked for my name, her blurted response was classic:  “Oh, I’ve heard about you!” 

Even though I was almost thirty years old, I knew that it was useless to counter with tales of my now placid, non-rebellious character, so I simply ignored her rude comment and finished making arrangements.

The experience was a rather pointed example, however, of just how long a bad reputation can hang around.  Human nature finds tales of missteps much more interesting than toeing the line, and gossip expands silly pranks into mountainous transgressions.  Thankfully, God used all of my peccadilloes to transform me into who I am today.  He forgave me a long time ago, and that is all that really matters.