Ordinary people....

In the overall scheme of things, I am an unimportant person.  I am not a mover or a shaker like Steve Jobs.  I am not someone who will change the course of history, like Martin Luther.  I will never be known for my brains, like Einstein.  I won't be remembered for my passion, like Carrie Nation.  I am not a great singer, or writer or artist.  I am just an ordinary person.  And I am okay with that, because being me is enough.

Ordinary people do extraordinary things every single day.  They teach children who don't want to learn, day after day, and sometimes they change a life because of their persistence.  They answer police and medical calls in difficult situations, seeing things that can never be unseen, and still answer the next call, anyway.  They change a tire for a stranger in need.  They pay for groceries in the checkout line for someone who is a little short.  They hold a child who is lost, they take in a stray pet, they go to work, they pay their bills, they love their families.  They do their best, each and every day, and because of all the ordinary people, the world continues to lurch along, more or less stable for most of us.

When the news gets too overwhelming, I often stop and remind myself that it is the ordinary people in my life who are important.  They are the ones who influence my days, who bring joy to my heart, who make me smile or laugh or cry.  In short, they are the ones who matter, in the only way that really counts.

In 1 Corinthians 12:14 we are told,

Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

I recently have battled a series of medical issues, piled one on top of another.  It has been a strong reminder of how interconnected and dependent the body is upon each part to work.  My aching hip caused me to shift my walk, and suddenly my knee hurt, too.  My injured neck caused pain into my head and down my shoulders.  The prednisone I took for the inflammation caused by influenza caused me to have blurred vision for weeks.  Coughing injured my vocal chords, and for the first time in my life, I couldn't take for granted I would ever be able to sing again.  My entire body hurt from tip to toe, and it made me realize that every piece of me was tied to another piece.  It didn't matter whether the place that gave me trouble was visible or not, when one hurt, I simply hurt.

So, too, are people tied to each other.  There are people who are more visible, but they are just people.  Like us.  They may make more money.  They may have talents we can only dream of, or they may simply have been lucky in life.  They may have fame or infamy, but in God's eyes, they are of no greater or lesser value than we are.  In fact, without the ordinary people like us to buy their music or artwork or products or go to movies or sporting events or put money in their investment funds or work for them or pay our taxes, they would have nothing at all.

When one hurts, we all hurt.  That is the human condition.  And it is rarely the famous or wealthy or important people who come to our rescue when we are in need.  It is the ordinary, every day people that we count on to make life better, day after day after day.  I am in good company, and I am grateful for all those ordinary people, who together, make my world a better place.

Dear Lord, thank you for all the ordinary people in this world, who make life better for all of us.  Amen.