I stepped off the plane, walked down the jetway, entered the terminal, caught up in the crowd. The voices around me rose in an unintelligible roar. No one was speaking English. Were it not for international symbols, the signs around me would be meaningless, incomprehensible.
For some reason, I paused. I looked into the faces of passersby. I listened to their speech, heard their laughter. For one brief moment, behind their eyes, I caught a glimpse of soul. In this airport, in all this chaos of humanity, there is not a single individual unknown and unloved by God.
I board a bus, enter a subway, walk the mall, step into a restaurant, cross the path of an old enemy, meet a friend for coffee, greet my sister, embrace my wife — I will never encounter another human being who is loved any less or any more by the God I call my friend.
And that is why anything less than kindness is not enough. Anything mean-spirited will disappoint my Father, who loves all individuals — and loves them unconditionally.
© 2006 | http://web.mac.com/jamesplong
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