You drive hurriedly to work running five minutes behind
schedule. In one hand, you hold your
favorite coffee. Your other hand steers
the car in and out of traffic, all the while nervously tapping your thumb on
the wheel like a pressure valve slowly releasing the built up frustration
inside. You wish the traffic would just
move faster!
On the side of the road, a man
stands beside his car watching the traffic zoom past with a set of
jumper-cables in his hands. “Poor guy,”
you think to yourself, “I wish I had time to help…Oh well, someone else will
give him a hand.” You drive on glancing
in your rearview mirror. The man catches
your eye in the reflection. Something
about his posture looks strangely familiar; unable to put a finger on it, you
drive on giving no further thought to the unfortunate stranger.
Arriving at work, a woman down on
her luck asks for a handout. Annoyed by
the delay, you create a lie, “sorry, I don’t have anything to give you.” As you walk inside, the wind catches
the door; turning to pull it shut, you make eye contact with this woman in
unfortunate circumstances. Something in
her eyes reminds you of someone you know.
You rush on, however, to reach the time-clock before it counts you late.
Along the way, you see a co-worker
sitting alone with his face buried in his hands, clearly distraught. “I wonder what’s wrong,” you think, wishing
you could answer your own question, “maybe I will find out at the break.” You walk on quickly opening the office door;
the glass in the door reflects the image of your co-worker. This time, something about his hands reminds
you of the homeless woman and the stranded commuter.
Immobilized by this eerie feeling,
you turn your head slowly hoping to remain unnoticed. Upon closer inspection, you see the scars on
his wrists; the same scars owned by the woman and the stranded
motorist—puncture wounds, deep and round.
Suddenly, an intense flood of emotion rushes over you. Uncertain of what to feel; you collapse into
a nearby chair as you recognize these familiar strangers. Each one is Jesus.
Jesus said, "whatever you do to the least of these, you do to me." Today, look for Jesus in the people
you encounter. You never know where you
may come across this familiar stranger.
