Invisible Walls

“It was the way of things.  Gage had seen it lots of times.  People lost interest quickly.  They lost interest even faster when there was no story to keep them hooked.  She was just a dead girl on a beach.  She could have been anybody, and if she wasn’t anybody, then she was a nobody.  It was hard to care about a nobody.  It was like trying to hang a picture on an invisible wall.’  The Grey and The Guilty Sea by Scott William Carter

It happens once in a while that something just sinks its teeth into me and says, “Pay attention”.  Then I’m faced with a choice.  Pay attention or don’t, try on the thoughts presenting themselves, or don’t.

Today, I’m paying attention.  A small paragraph in a book of fiction strikes again.

• “It’s the way of things.”
• “It was hard to care about a nobody.”
• “It was like trying to hang a picture on an invisible wall.”

We seem to be built to ignore things that, on the surface, do not affect us directly and immediately.  We can rush right by without a second thought.  It’s expedient.  It’s sometimes even necessary in this world of data bombardment.  We just can’t stop and consider everything!  We need to weed out irrelevant instance or we’d be nothing more than useless, over-stimulated bundles of nerves.

Once upon a time, one of my favorite things was watching my 5 year-old daughter sleep.  She lay there, peaceful and beautiful.  It could make me break down and cry.  It could fill my heart with gratitude beyond explanation.  Literally, I could not leave the room - it could bring me to a complete stop.

But this I say knowing that a treasure was sleeping right in front of me.  This is said with the full recognition that this person was definitely NOT a nobody.  This was truly a somebody!

And now for the thoughts presenting themselves.

Since we are all children of God, I wonder if He loves watching us sleep.  I wonder if He thinks, “Finally.  They’ve stopped running around like mad-men.  Look how peaceful I made them.”

This is how He loves me – a somebody in His eyes.  This is how He loves you.  This is how He loves that annoying person at work, that man sleeping in a downtown doorway and that overweight, gum-smacking rude-speaking checkout clerk. 

A new command I give you:  Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  John 13:34

How do I do this?  The first step could be something as simple as stopping to make eye contact.  I could maybe smile and offer a word or two recognizing the existence of another, even a nobody.  I could look at someone while recognizing that God loves watching this person sleep.

Maybe this is how I turn an invisible wall into something real.  This invisible wall becomes a wall of love and it can hold the pictures of all where even the nobody becomes somebody. 

And God's Kingdom grows.