God’s People

I heard the buzz about this book and borrowed an audio copy. Two very
different voices read the parts of Denver and Ron. When I walk through
the Learning Commons and see the quotes from the book, I hear those
voices in my head. One of my favorite quotes is “Let’s call them God’s
people.” How many times do we encounter people with whom we feel
uncomfortable? Maybe they scare us a little or perhaps we make a quick
judgment about them. We give them names or labels. I’m thinking now of
my children and their reaction and discussion of people we see as we
are driving down the street. They have names and labels for people.
Already, they have formed thoughts and opinions based on appearances.
While they have been cautioned all their lives about dangers, this has
interfered with them learning to feel compassionate and open-hearted.
They are sure that the ragged fellow on the corner will rip the door
open and grab them. “Lock the doors!” they say as we pull up to the
stoplight. I’ve got a lot of work to do with them as well as myself.
After all, I haven’t provided experiences for them through which they
would learn compassion and generosity. And, I guess if I’m being
honest, they really haven’t seen me reaching out in compassion. So, I
am convicted by this story. What will I do? I will begin by calling
those folks we see “God’s people.” I will seek out opportunities for
my family to serve and love God’s people, and together we will learn
to see people as God sees them.