I was in the checkout line at the Evil Retail Giant last week kicking the life out of a hundred-dollar bill when I noticed a woman standing behind me. She was beautiful, about 50, wreathed in messy hair and gazing past me with a thousand-yard stare that said tired or sorrow. I wanted to look at her, wanted to study how time had laid down and shaped the days on her face.
But I didn’t. The odds are better than even that some man or boy was the cause of that sorrow or tiredness, if not today, then at some time in the past half-century. She didn’t need me looking at her, however harmless or admiring the intention. I moved along.
Outside, another woman. Rough as a cob. She stood at the edge of the parking lot asking for gas money. I saw no tiredness or sorrow on her face, only hopefulness. The remnants of my Ben Franklin disappeared as I sourly recalled the “two” Corinthians admonition that the Lord loveth a cheerful giver. And I moved along.
The complexity of the lives of these two women stayed with me throughout the day. How different – and yet the same – are the experiences of each, one beautiful, one not, one with money, one without, yet each arriving on Earth similarly and leaving, perhaps differently, but unequivocally leaving nevertheless. Them me all of us in and out.
That’s what I was thinking about when I attended a Get to Know the Candidates fandango at the Farm Bureau office that night. The candidates got up. They talked. Handsome and not. Pretty and not. Well-spoken and dumber than a box of rocks. Wonder Woman and Captain America appearing with Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil, and Evil. Who’s on first? Yes.
And I moved along, thinking that what matters is choosing a candidate who understands our complexity and our differences, yet can look under our skin to see that we all have much in common, much of it good, and need leaders who seek and find, not political or party or ideological victory, but the Common Good.
Completely agree regarding the need to Quest for Common Good. Somewhere in that quest we need to recognize the deepening gulf of income/class inequality, as represented by your two women.They probably did not start from the line with all things being equal and we’re making political choices that! will widen the gap.
Reflections from the heart – would we all look at the world and life that way. Blessings to you, Dan, for sharing yourself in that way. Thank you.
Perfect!
That’s a beautiful observation and one that crosses my mind often. Wish everyone realized a face holds a story, not to be judged, but to be appreciated for all it reflects of the person within.