I was driving down the street today and came upon an elderly woman walking down the street. She had long - ish gray hair and was walking with a slow and unsteady gait. To her right was an obviously much younger gentleman. They were slowly but surely walking together, arm in arm. I thought to myself, what a beautiful sight. This old ladys grandson is taking her for a stroll. How happy she must be to be able to spend time with her young grandson, and how lucky they BOTH are to be able to share some quality time together and enjoy this beautiful summer day! I immediately felt a kind of commeraderie with the young man, as well as a pang of loss and grief remembering my grandmothers, Olive and Grogie. If either one of my grandmothers were still alive, I would be honored and cosmically compelled to walk them down the street, arm in arm. Telling stories, remembering... maybe no words at all. Just being. And knowing. And loving. As I drove past the couple, I stole another glance in the mirror, hoping to see their faces. To offer a smile and a knowing, feeling nod. Even if they couldnt see it, * I * would know. I wasnt prepared for what I saw. The young man who was helping his elderly grandmother was obviously mentally and physically disabled. His face was the sum of struggle, frustration, and perhaps a little childish wonder. HER face, heavily wrinkled, ravaged from time, worry, dedication, and obviously unconditional love and devotion was grimacing, perhaps from the pain of achy feet, maybe from the knowing that these walks may someday soon be impossible... Who was helping who? Something that was so obvious a second earlier was nearly impossible to discern now. Those two people unknowingly taught me a life changing lesson. Sometimes we just DONT know. Sometimes our first impressions are completely and utterly wrong. Sometimes what lies on the surface is superficial at best. We are so pre-wired to go with our gut, that we forget how to use our brains. And our hearts. We armchair quarterback each others lives and proselytize our political and social beliefs with buzz words and catchphrases. We refuse to dig deeper because quite frankly, its too hard. Maybe we all need to just take a slow stroll down the street and think. And feel. And notice. And empathize. And love our neighbors who are trying to walk their own paths beside us. And when we see people stumble on the sidewalk, offer offer a hand. Because THAT S what Jesus would do.
Posted on: Fri, 30 May 2014 20:49:15 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015