We see ourselves in others. Isn't that why we turn?
We see our hopes and dreams unfulfilled. Isn't that why we hurry by?
We see our frailty, our vulnerability. Isn't that why we, ever so carefully, step over?
We fear the other, the stranger. We shrink from the odd clothes, the strange behaviors, the obvious oddities...and we become less and less and less.
Until we are hardly human at all.
Recently I read, in fairly religious terms, that "God doesn't make strangers, we do." I felt power in that phrase, mostly because I've experienced it myself--the sideways glance, the unreturned smile, the blank look. I've felt diminished by a lack of connection and I know you have too. And I wonder if...no, I know...if we were to simply acknowledge the full humanity in others...even of those we fear...if we were to really see them and let them see us, this world would become better--connected, fearless, loving.
Isn't that what we all want?
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