Being Human for Human Beings

Because of new paving going down, I was glad to be stuck at the intersection through several light cycles. Glad because I witnessed something remarkable, which is why I remark on it now.

Lots of equipment, additional noise and dense smells along with a screwy light pattern had this knotted concentration of strangers a little edgy. Street pavers and drivers were wary of each other, but pedestrians were the most inconvenienced. Navigating machinery, avoiding frustrated drivers and waiting to catch the eye of  an orange vested traffic director made crossing the street a scary, difficult thing.

Two folks, a man and lady who appeared to me to be developmentally challenged, approached what should have been the crosswalk. She especially was disturbed: the broad white crossing lines had been covered, the lights weren't doing their normal thing, it was stinky, noisy and too hot. She gestured at the the sticky goo and didn't want to step off the curb and get the tarry mess all over her shoes. A do-ragged, sweaty construction guy acted quickly, hoisted her piggy back, held out a hand to stop traffic and got her safely and sans goo across the wide street. She waved a happy hand as the guy sprinted back to his post. I'm sure his kind act was not covered in his intial job interview and was nowhere in the company job description or contract with the city.

What a human thing to do.

When I finally got a chance to turn, I swung wide just to tell him I thought he was a good guy.

I bet the Good Samaritan didn't start out good. He became good when he touched the wounds of his hated tribal rival - a beat up Jew. Being human is doing good and doing good is always costly. Much more cost effective to talk about good and being enraged when someone else isn't. It's also more common.

Jesus "dwelt among is" and became human in doing so. Jesus and the construction guy tell me that to be fully human I have to be fully engaged with and attentive to someone other than my moderately interesting self.

Becoming human has a price tag attached and maybe that's why it's rare. And valuable.

I Coulda Been a Contender

All of the girls have been having friends at the house almost nightly for the last several weeks. Four girls, plus friends. Lots of them. Hindus and Jews, Christians and pagans, all shades and colors, from India, England and I'm not sure where else. Studying all kinds of interesting things at schools I wasn't smart enough to get into. Some are brilliant and talented and some appear pretty dopey to me. It's a loud cacophony of young adult singing, jokes and miscommunication. The furniture and piano have taken a beating and the fridge door is more open than closed. The ice maker has given up the ghost.

Piling on the couches, looking at photos of the girls when they were little has been a favorite pastime for this 16 to mid-twenties crowd. Some life long friends remember the connected stories and new kids get a kick out of the goofy hair and clothes.

Watching all this has made me reflective as well as dizzy. I'm thinking I might have been a better parent when they were little if I had understood kid's stall tactics. They could worm out of cleaning their rooms - and frustrate the fire out of me - by comparing disaster sites ("look at HER mess!") and talking about who was more to blame. A quarter of an hour could vanish into the ether with a labyrinthine protest about unfairness in assigning chores and lucky kids that never do any.  Another could be gobbled up defining exactly what  constitutes a clean room, a folded towel or a neat closet. I get it now - stall and you don't have to do anything. It's not as fun as playing, but it's not as bad as working.

Certainly there are some honest seekers when it comes to the Great Questions of Life - "Is there a God? What's He expect from me? How should I respond to Him? Does anybody speak for Him? Does He have a say in my behavior? What's right and what's wrong?" I just wonder if some few seekers prolong the search, reject putting a stake in the ground and beginning the more arduous task of obeying whatever He might be whispering because . . . well, talking about it is easier than doing it.

Maybe every Big Question isn't fully answered because real belief is more about correct doing than correct thinking. I get the feeling that some assume we obey God after we believe. It runs something like this: "Of course, I can't be expected to embrace belief/Christianity with a pile unaddressed, unanswered issues. Before unshakable belief in God and the claims of Christ there's no obligation to align my behavior with His expectations."

But who says it works that way? What if it's the other way around and belief follows obedience? "I do what I'm pretty sure God wants, what I've seen He says in a book I still have massive questions about, and then belief starts to sharpen." It would make a big difference, wouldn't it? You game?