Fall down, go boom

Yep, that phrase -- "Fall down, go boom" -- those are the wise words of a child.

Me. When one of us (my siblings and I) would fall down, we'd often say it or have it said to us. And often if it was a painful fall, my dad would lift us up, rub the hurting area and say "Rubby rubby rubby - hurts all gone!"

Riiighhhttt... like rubbing it makes the pain go away. It doesn't. And here's a newsflash. Falling still hurts.

And not just the physical falls. I'm talking about falling in someone else's eyes. You know - that OTHER phrase -- "Falling from grace." I did a little research into the phrase...

Fall from grace

Meaning: To fall from position of high esteem.

Origin: From the Bible, Galatians 5:4. "'Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace."

**And on a side note - No, I don't believe we fall from God's grace. God's love and grace are unconditional - and that is good to know.**

I also know first-hand that we fall from grace in each other's eyes. We disappoint. We fall short. We stumble and hurt not only ourselves, but others. I've done it. You've done it. And even though "everybody's doin' it..." - it doesn't make it easier to watch someone you love take the fall.

No one wants to be hurt, and we all want to be the bigger person and say it doesn't affect our opinions when we are hurt by someone else. But that's a human trying to do a super-human thing. We just can't. We try - but we never get to the level of God's unconditional love. Sure, we forgive - but it's not forgotten. It may never be brought up again, but it's still not forgotten.

And once again, I'm reminded of a Frasier episode - the one where Frasier feels he's falling from perfection in Freddie's (his son) eyes. He tries to avoid it and drags his own father, Martin, into the process, but in the end he learns he'd fallen well before that day anyways.

In the meantime, Martin's asking Frasier when it was that he himself fell in Frasier's eyes. Frasier tells him it was when he was in school and in the Math Club and when they went out for a dinner as a group and Martin couldn't figure out the tim amount in his head. Frasier was ashamed and lost esteem for his father. Petty? Yes, but aren't we all at times?

So today's moral - watch out for those falls. They'll happen. And for those who haven't fallen yet in your eyes, they will. Just be sure to place them on a not-so-high pedestal, that way the fall is less. And if you're really close to them - be nice and put out some protective padding for the fall.

Above all else, help them pick themselves up and dust them off. You'll want the same kindness when you take the dive.