Two Kinds of People

By Devi Titus

At the memorial service of June Carter Cash, the wife of Johnny Cash, the 11 Grammy winner and recording artist who sold more than 50 million records, Johnny’s daughter said about June:

"In her eyes there were two kinds of people; those she knew and loved and those she didn’t know and loved.  She looked for the best in everyone; it was a way of life for her."

June lived 1 Corinthians 13:26 “…let all things be done for edification.”  This is the legacy that I want to leave, but I am fully aware that I have some catching up to do.  Here is how June did it.  Johnny’s daughter continued.

“She looked for the best in everyone; it was a way of life for her. If you pointed out that a particular person was perhaps not deserving of her love, she would say, ‘Well, honey, we just have to lift him up.’  She was forever lifting people up.  It took me a long time to understand what she did when she lifted you up.

She would mirror the very best parts of you back to yourself. She was like a spiritual detective; she saw into all your dark corners and deep recesses, saw your potential, and the gifts you didn’t even know you possessed, and she lifted them up for you to see.”

Do you point out the dark corners of others and give them your perceived wisdom, thinking that you are helping them? Or do you look into their deep recesses to find a person’s potential and mirror their very best parts back for them to see?

This is what my husband, Larry, does.  I watch him carefully as he looks deep into a person’s life, even if on the surface they look like a failure, and he lifts them up.  Soon they see themselves differently and begin to flourish.

You have the same kind of power that June Carter had—the power to lift people up. The success of Johnny Cash was attributed to June.  Reportedly she began every day saying, “What can I do for you, John?” Her love filled up every room he was in and lightened every path he walked. Her devotion created a sacred, exhilarating place for them to live.

Whose path will you light up? Join me and let’s together make this our motto: Honey, we just have to lift them up.

Ephesians 4:29  “Let no unwholesome word proceed out of your mouth but only such a word as is good for edification, according to the need of the moment that it may give grace to those who hear.”