Here is an article I wrote. I just wanted to share it. I know we have some authors here. I would love to have some feedback from them and some others. I am really determined to hone my writing this year.
God Bless,
It's Spectacular...But You Don't Sleep in the Lobby
.. ..
Several times in my life, I have fallen prey to the allurement of the
newly remodeled hotel lobby... It has happened often enough that I should enter every hotel with a healthy enough level of skepticism that it should not keep happening.
Perhaps you've been there... An older hotel has weighed the cost of completely remodeling its rooms and has apparently decided against budgeting for such costly renovations... It decides instead to spend its money on remodeling and updating just one area...namely its lobby.
How disappointing it is to enter an elevator in a beautiful, inviting, well-appointed lobby only to exit in seemingly another building altogether. I have often had the distinct impression that the elevator was in fact a time machine and that my family and I had been teleported to another place and time.
Gone are the beautiful rich mahogany furniture, marble floors, freshly painted walls, and crown molding. In their place are wood panels, shag carpet, and fading floral wallpaper. I've also discovered that whatever cooling deficiencies the air-conditioner units in these rooms have are not for the lack of noisy enthusiasm on its part. Luckily, enough people have ignored the no-smoking sign that the stale cigarette odor overpowers every other unsavory smell and establishes itself as the sole stench we have to contend with.
In short, the discrepancy between what I expected and what I exper-ienced was disappointing and almost alarming. What's more disconcerting is that my expectation was not arbitrary, but it was the direct result of what I saw and experienced in the lobby. It was an expectation that was carefully cultivated by hotel management and ownership. It was a strategic white-washing of what was known to be unattractive, unfulfilling, and unfit. The remodeled lobby is a study in the art of presentation over substance.
The thought occurred to me that the hotel management, of all people, must be clearly aware of this discrepancy. Neither are they laboring under the illusion that this inconsistency will go unnoticed. They are fully aware that the true condition of their hotel will be realized as soon as their tenant leaves the lobby. At some point they came to grips with the age and condition of their hotel and decided that some radical renovations were necessary... They just were unwilling to commit to overhauling anything more than the lobby, and that has proven to be a fairly effective approach.
The lobby is, after all, the entryway through which every prospective customer must enter. It is the first real impression of the condition of the hotel and most importantly it is the
point of commitment. By the time I reach my room,
the point of fulfillment, I have already made the decision to stay in that hotel in that city. I have already unpacked the car and the family. I have already submitted my credit card information and have gone through the entire registration process. By the time I reach my room, I am likely resigned to stay in a room that I likely would not have chosen if I had seen it or if the lobby had been in the same condition.
At the end of the day (literally), the hotel exists to provide an acceptable place to sleep. The lobby cannot compensate for an unfit room because it is merely a temporary passageway. I will not spend any significant
amount of time in the lobby. However, that does not mean that the time I
do spend in the lobby is not significant. It is while in the lobby that I make the commit-ment to the hotel and without this commitment there will be no staying in the hotel.
The
point of commitment is the point of decision. It is the place and time that shapes destinies, futures, circumstances, and surroundings. The problem is that very often it does not mirror its
point of fulfillment. The enemy has become adept at creating a shallow veneer at this critical commitment point. This veneer is all he can offer, but he uses it effectively to his advantage. He does not have it in his power or budget to provide the fulfillment that he appears to offer, but we too often don't realize that until we have unpacked, paid, and committed.
This is how many of us end up in uncomfortable places in life. We would not have chosen the place we ended up in, but the choice we made in the beginning led us to the place in the ending. Too often we don't see the correlation and too often we fall for the lure of the lobby.
It is important to remember that we do not sleep in the lobby, and that we should not allow the fleeting and the temporary to lure us into an uncom-fortable existence. The enemy uses attractive lobbies to sell uncomfortable ideas, activities, lifestyles, and existences. Even the Bible confirms that the pleasures of sin last for a season (a fleeting time);sadly, that season is usually long enough to attract. It is only later that the wages of sin are realized.
Let us always remember to focus on the big picture...
the point of fulfillment...the place where we actually have to sleep. Let us no longer be deceived by the lobby. It is perhaps best to always consider the ultimate point of fulfillment whenever we make our commitments. For Jesus said “In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you” (
John 14:2). There is nothing that can compare to the fulfillment and grandeur that we will receive as a result of our godly commitments.
While I am airing my grievances with the hotel industry, there is another issue I would like to address. It is the discrepancy that sometimes exists between what is shown on a hotel's website and what is experienced in person. Regrettably, I don't have the time to fully delve into this matter. Suffice it to say that you don't sleep in your computer either...
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