I have a reputation of having a “glass half empty” personality.  It has turned into somewhat of a joke.  A few years ago, some friends gave me a half full/half empty glass. I maintain that my glass is not half empty — it’s the wrong size glass.  Or, whether is half empty or half full, there’s room for more wine!  Jokes aside, it sort of stings when people say that about me.  It’s not that I’m not optimistic — it’s that I have been bitterly let down by people over the years, so I try to protect my heart by trying to expect less.  Truth is, I still expect a lot from people and continue to be let down because people are people.  We are flawed.  Imperfect.  Incapable of being everything that others expect or desire.  There will come a time when we will always let each other down, despite our best intentions.

The Gospel implications are that while people will always let you down, Jesus never will.  I think about what Jesus must have been feeling on that day so many years ago as he prepared to have his last meal with his friends who he knew were going to let him down.  He knew what the next 24 hours or so were going to bring.  And, while he knew that in his divinity, he would defeat death,  in his humanity, he still had to endure the physical, emotional and spiritual pain that awaited him on that cross.  I often wonder if he was afraid.  He had to be.  And, yet…he did it anyway.  He did not let us down.

I’ve been reflecting a lot over the past week or so, since I found out my friend had passed away.  I’ve been looking through old photos and remembering fun times spent with he and his wife.  As I sat there on my living room floor the other night, laughing and crying as I went through photos and cards and old ticket stubs that I’ve saved over the years, I realized how many amazing people have been a part of our lives.  Each person is somebody God saw fit to put in my life at a particular time and place.  Some are lifelong friends.  Some are people I’ve met as an adult who have become like family to me.  Others are people I’ve lost touch with over the years.  But, each has made me the person I am today.

My cup isn’t half full or half empty.  It overflows.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

~Psalm 23:5