Up and Down
Excerpt from Isaiah 2:5-11
“A day is coming when arrogance is destroyed.” (Good News Bible)
Reflection by William C. Green
My doctor’s office is on the fourth floor. I take the stairs because the elevator has a mind of its own, sometimes going down to the basement before it goes up.
I can be like that elevator. Going up I end up in the basement instead. High on what I believe and care about, without realizing it I can look down on others who see things differently. It doesn’t have to be that way.
Recently, Amish furniture builders in Cleveland toured college dorm rooms and apartments so they could build furniture suited for them. A college dean served as the tour guide. Shortly after the tour began, the group of 30 Amish men, wearing traditional hats, beards, and suspendered trousers, came face to face with a half-dozen young women heading to the Lady Gaga concert downtown. The fans wore clothing, or the lack thereof, that paid homage to the sizzling pop star. The dean described this as one of the more bizarre scenes he’s encountered on Cleveland’s streets. One of the Amish builders leaned over to him and said, “We’re trying to figure out which one of us thinks the other is stranger.”
This is the humor and humility essential to a sane and just society, and a safe world. There’s no room to stand apart from others when we’re all in the same boat.
Prayer
O God, help me to walk more humbly with you and with all those who need your love as much as I do.
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