I walked to the corner, at the edge of town. The stoplight in front of me directing the traffic as I observed the people in their vehicles.
In a town that I was unfamiliar with, the familiarity and humanity of these people was like a mirror. I did not know them, but I realized that they faced the same struggles as the folks in the town that I lived in. A teenage girl with her face turned towards the sidewalk, disinterested in what her mother was trying to communicate to her. A young man, singing along to the upbeat music on the car’s audio system. Several seemed to be frustrated with the traffic and the red light. As I watched life carry on in the lives before me, I remembered what had brought me here, to this point in time.
I thought back on the events of the day, a disagreement and my usual posture of retreating and not wanting to be confrontational. To walk it off and not let the situation turn into more than it needed to be. In the moment, I was numb, or apathetic, or maybe both. Was I giving up or had I already stopped caring? There seemed to be no point, to the disagreement or to this trek I had taken. It didn’t matter to those in the cars in front of me and didn’t seem to matter to me, at least not in this instant. I stood there for an inestimable amount of time, with no particular reason for doing so and seemingly without any cause to move.
I considered the lives of those before me. Maybe they were more interesting than I was and led lives of passion and purpose. Maybe they had close friends and loved ones who counted on them, loved them and needed them. At that particular moment, I did not sense that about myself. Just then, I thought of a friend back home and wondered how her day was going. She had been through a rough patch lately. At least this lifted my thoughts off of myself and the person to whom I was unreconciled with at the moment. I prayed that her day was going well, especially when mine wasn’t. The shift in focus, kept me from walking on in the opposite direction of the one to whom I was currently in disagreement with. I thought that if I could still make a difference to one other person and their life, then life was still worth living; that this is the purpose to which we all were meant to live for.
I slowly began to walk back to where I had come from, and as I did the apathy began to slip away. What I did next would matter, not to the ones in the cars behind me now. But to the ones that I loved, to the friends that I cared for and to the ones whom God had put in my path. My stride began to increase as I picked up the pace. My stubbornness and thoughts that centered on me, gradually faded and I strode with this renewed strength and purpose. To live and proclaim that the Lord is God and that He loves us all so much, more than we know or believe in some moments.
At home later that day, I heard from that friend and found out that she had been having a tough day as well. Memories had crept in. Tears had fallen. I reminded her of the Father’s Love for her and that He was always there, things that I had to remind myself earlier in the day. Maybe it made a difference. It seemed to.
Encouraging ourselves and others is sometimes necessary, as none of us are ever as strong as we think we are. Doubts and fears can come in. Voices from the past and unpleasant memories can pull us down. It is sometimes hard to walk on, when you don’t feel like you are making a difference, but we must do so. These are the very reasons why we were placed here to be in community to love and care for one another.
We take each other by the hand and pull each other up. We lift and encourage other souls that are desperate and crying out for Grace. We let our brotherly love continually show, to light the way for those who are lost in momentary darkness. We are strong when others are weak and they are the same way for us and others. This is the Way. And we should walk in it.
In a town that I was unfamiliar with, the familiarity and humanity of these people was like a mirror. I did not know them, but I realized that they faced the same struggles as the folks in the town that I lived in. A teenage girl with her face turned towards the sidewalk, disinterested in what her mother was trying to communicate to her. A young man, singing along to the upbeat music on the car’s audio system. Several seemed to be frustrated with the traffic and the red light. As I watched life carry on in the lives before me, I remembered what had brought me here, to this point in time.
I thought back on the events of the day, a disagreement and my usual posture of retreating and not wanting to be confrontational. To walk it off and not let the situation turn into more than it needed to be. In the moment, I was numb, or apathetic, or maybe both. Was I giving up or had I already stopped caring? There seemed to be no point, to the disagreement or to this trek I had taken. It didn’t matter to those in the cars in front of me and didn’t seem to matter to me, at least not in this instant. I stood there for an inestimable amount of time, with no particular reason for doing so and seemingly without any cause to move.
I considered the lives of those before me. Maybe they were more interesting than I was and led lives of passion and purpose. Maybe they had close friends and loved ones who counted on them, loved them and needed them. At that particular moment, I did not sense that about myself. Just then, I thought of a friend back home and wondered how her day was going. She had been through a rough patch lately. At least this lifted my thoughts off of myself and the person to whom I was unreconciled with at the moment. I prayed that her day was going well, especially when mine wasn’t. The shift in focus, kept me from walking on in the opposite direction of the one to whom I was currently in disagreement with. I thought that if I could still make a difference to one other person and their life, then life was still worth living; that this is the purpose to which we all were meant to live for.
I slowly began to walk back to where I had come from, and as I did the apathy began to slip away. What I did next would matter, not to the ones in the cars behind me now. But to the ones that I loved, to the friends that I cared for and to the ones whom God had put in my path. My stride began to increase as I picked up the pace. My stubbornness and thoughts that centered on me, gradually faded and I strode with this renewed strength and purpose. To live and proclaim that the Lord is God and that He loves us all so much, more than we know or believe in some moments.
At home later that day, I heard from that friend and found out that she had been having a tough day as well. Memories had crept in. Tears had fallen. I reminded her of the Father’s Love for her and that He was always there, things that I had to remind myself earlier in the day. Maybe it made a difference. It seemed to.
Encouraging ourselves and others is sometimes necessary, as none of us are ever as strong as we think we are. Doubts and fears can come in. Voices from the past and unpleasant memories can pull us down. It is sometimes hard to walk on, when you don’t feel like you are making a difference, but we must do so. These are the very reasons why we were placed here to be in community to love and care for one another.
We take each other by the hand and pull each other up. We lift and encourage other souls that are desperate and crying out for Grace. We let our brotherly love continually show, to light the way for those who are lost in momentary darkness. We are strong when others are weak and they are the same way for us and others. This is the Way. And we should walk in it.
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