Me and Kanye...

Have to admit I wasn't watching MTV the night that Kanye West became a social pariah and the punchline to every joke over the next couple of weeks.

But I got the gist of what happened and who was the victim.

Taylor Swift is one of my girls absolute favorite celebrities.

I mean, they LOVE Taylor Swift. And I’m okay with that.

She seems like a pretty level-headed 19 yr. old kid.

I don’t like Kanye West.

I never have.

This episode with Taylor Swift didn't forge my opinion of the hip-hop superstar, it simply affirmed it.

First - just not the kind of music I dial up on the old iPod.

Second - “George Bush hates black people”

Third - this isn't the first time he’s pulled a stunt like this.

Fourth - if you did that to one of my girls I'd go gansta on ya.

So it kind of took me by surprise when I found myself turning into Jay Leno to see if he’d show up and dig his career grave a little deeper. In all honesty, I switched from watching the Chargers and the Raiders game, two of the three teams I despise in the NFL (the Patriots had already played completing the trifecta).

So Jay’s asking questions. And I have to give him credit - he wasnt offering up softballs to Kanye.

Then came the question of the night - what would your mother (recently deceased) think of your actions?

Kanye was taken back a little. Visibly moved.

Struggling to string a comment together that would still give him street cred and yet offer some sense of contrition.

And then it hit me.

Like a rogue wave, I begin to realize that I am feeling compassion towards this young man...

I saw someone who longs for respect but doesn't know how to give it.

I saw someone who was hurting so deeply he had no idea how to confront it.

I saw someone who had lost the anchor of his life (his mother) and now was living with no accountability.

I saw someone desperately in need of grace.

And up until then I had no intention of offering him any.

Batten down the hatches, here comes the second wave.

In that moment I realized why I didn't like Kanye West

I am not nearly as multi-cultural as I’d like to think I am.

I am insufferably jealous that he has a career in music and I don’t.

And the biggest revelation - and the most painful to accept...

(drum roll from a TR-808 please - going old school on that one)

I have no idea how grace works.

None

Nada

Clueless

“...if you do not forgive men their sins, Your Father will not forgive your sins.” Mt 5:15

In a moment my anger towards another was gone

In a moment I was ready to extend grace to someone who needed it

In a moment I was revealed and restored by God’s grace

Revealed and restored

Revealed and restored

Kanye West doesn't deserve God’s grace

Neither does Jon Porter

That’s why it's grace

We don’t deserve it because of our stupid choices and asinine actions

But it never stops God from giving it to us

That’s why they say it's amazing...

I forgave Kanye West on that Monday night

Maybe one day he can forgive me

Peace...