Quick Thought: The Stories We Walk Past
At work, school, the mall, and all the other places we frequent, we walk and drive past hundreds of people every day. If you are like me, you often find that you really don’t reflect on who they are, where they are from, or where they are going. They are just other people.
I used to work at an airport and intersected with thousands of people every shift, we kept track. It was a fun job and you got to meet a lot of interesting people, but for the most part you never really got to know them. I think back at that time and wonder what happened to them, where did they go and what did they do. Charles Dickens, in “A Tale of Two Cities,” makes the statement that every human will always be a mystery to every other and very much points out that ever human will never be fully known by another.
We are walking stories that never be fully read. The true fact is that each one of us were born, were raised by someone, learned to walk, had a favorite toy or blanket, celebrated birthdays, had dreams of our own future, experienced joy and disappointment, and played. In the same way we all will feel pain and hardship and eventually all die. Every one of your experiences, most people have a gone or will go through a similar one yet one absolutely unique. It is something that is hard to wrap your head around. We walk past each other never giving the others a second thought. Each human has been made by God in a uniquely diverse and incredible way, each bringing unique perspective that is formed by unique personal experiences and backgrounds.
“A wonderful fact to reflect upon that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other.”
God has placed each human on a trajectory, all leading to his ultimate purpose and plan. He has given each a starting point and an endpoint. We, as followers of Him, have been given a mission. If we let the people walk past us, and never try to reach out to hear and learn their story, we miss out on everything they are and they carry.