Interrupt

Sometimes... I forget about people.
Sometimes... I lose hope in people.
Sometimes... I just get really tired of people.

But then I have nights like last night. Nights I am acutely aware of diversity, of the beauty in each face, in each pair of eyes I see. I get all wrapped up in thinking about their stories - these people who pass by me. And I wonder about just how easily I could step into their stories.

With a simple hello, I could interject.

A kind smile and suddenly, our stories would collide.

I could interrupt their life.

I thought about this as I sat waiting in a car with a little boy who is in fifth grade.
He prides himself in how easily he can change the topic of conversation.
Boasting about how he's not scared of the dark. Not at all.

I thought about this as I sat in Starbucks and watched couple after couple come in for coffee before going to the see the Trans-Siberian orchestra. I wondered about their dates, how they met, and just how awkward each one felt. And how long it would take for them to become best friends. If they ever would.

Each person has a story.

A life they are leading.

A path they are walking.

I found myself watching their body language.
Looking for the tell-tale light, the illumination in their eyes.
Searching for something familiar, something shared.

And I fell in love with people again. This is the pattern. The sequence.
I forget about my love for the creations of our Creator.
Then I see a scar. Gray hair on their head. Or I hear one of them laugh.

I am overcome.

Enthralled.

Intrigued.

My hope still does not rest in people.
Sometimes I still get really tired of them. Especially adults.
But in a moment, my love for the created is re-ignited. My love for the ones He loves.

The father and son who shared a slice of pound cake.
Big man in his business clothes, leaning in to talk to the small man whose legs dangled off the chair.
They were my love story.

To most of them, I am simply an observer.

I am not here to interrupt anything.

Just as a witness to your existence - to a brief moment in your story.

There are others however, maybe even you, who will be interrupted by me.
I will walk in on your life, open the door to your story, and let myself in.
And I am in awe of how quickly it may happen.

What amazes me more, is when someone walks into mine.
When he came running through the house and threw himself into my arms.
When you came from out of nowhere and made me take notice.

There are nights when hundreds of faces pass me by.

When I am not struck by any beauty.

When I don't feel any warmth.

But there are others when I just wonder...
What just happened?
What, because of two stories colliding, just changed forever?

Divine interruption.
Serendipitous cameo.
Holy collision.

Wake up. This is a part of the story you don't want to miss.