Mere Mortals?

One of the few really nice days of the year enticed many of us outside on Saturday. As I stood leaning against the post that kept cars from entering Esther Short Park, a crowd streamed past me on its way to the Recycling Fair and adjacent Farmer's Market. My perch provided a superb people watching vista: summer wear exposing too-pale skin, young adults displaying extreme body art, groups of teens with piercings, middle-aged men sporting paunches that lap over shorts and bulge under T's, overweight bodies of all ages testifying to the growing diabesity pandemic, dogs with doting masters in tow, moms pushing kids in strollers overflowing with paraphernalia, folks in mobility power chairs edging their way through foot traffic. Anonymity fostering rudeness as too many bodies compete for too little space.

It is very easy to focus on the obvious. Easy to let visual clues reinforce prejudices. But, God calls us to look beyond the external to grasp the eternal. To look past what is right in front of our eyes to see what is on God's heart. To be less concerned with where people come from than where they are going to spend eternity. To look at people with God's love instead of our interest.

"There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations-- these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit-- immortal horrors or everlasting splendours... Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses."

C.S. Lewis

My neighborhood is in transition. The houses next to me have been abandoned by owners whose mortgages were upside down. When the marriage of a neighbor who worked on motors in his garage broke up and he moved out, I was more relieved than concerned. The noise from his business carried long into the night. His grown-up toys took up all of the curb space along my lot and gave our neighborhood an unflattering industrial look. We've speculated that this house would be the next one on the market.

I've been praying that God would be active in this transition. But, when my former neighbor moved all of his toys back last weekend, it wasn't the answer I was seeking. And I'm challenged with the task of showing God's love to someone who does not respect boundaries. Note to self: this man is no mere mortal.