I have a letter on my desk, I wrote it to myself while I was
at work last week. It says,
No one is “just a,” When the
homeless guy walks in, don’t think “oh, it’s just a homeless guy,” Greet him
like everyone else, he’s a person, a soul. EVERYONE is important and worth my
time and love.
Maybe you can understand the
trouble I’ve been having. Every day, we have the same homeless guy come in and
take a free sample. In the beginning I would greet him, but I started just
ignoring him. Maybe getting a little frustrated, it took me time to put those
out, and he just comes and takes one... Every day! It was the day that I
thought to my high and mighty self “ugg, it’s just the homeless guy again.” I
could literally feel myself looking down on him. I made myself sick.
Did I really think I was better
than him? How could I be that judgmental? I reminded me that I was doing that
some of my customers did to me; look down on someone. It’s the worst feeling when
someone does it to you. We are all children of God, and Jesus says “Whoever
welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me
welcomes the one who sent me. For it is the one who is least among you
all who is the greatest.” Luke 9:48. The Kingdom of Heaven looks at
people differently, and if we claim to be part of that, we need to look at
people differently too. A short story by Flannery O’Connor called Revelation,
shows a woman who is judgmental seeing a vision of souls marching to Heaven. To
her dismay, her and the “proper” people she approves of being at the BACK of
the line, and the people she felt were beneath her at the front!
I know humility is not something
well thought of in modern America, our fiercely independent selves
wholeheartedly fight for our superiority. We daily have to prove we are the
best, and deserve our positions/grades/places. When life is ranked and scored
and paid according to best and better, it is hard to look at someone and just
see a soul. It is essential that we break out of that though (me especially! No
one likes a good grade more than me). We need to really SEE people.
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