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awaken: to the footsteps of the stranger

May 18, 2009

Posted in: spiritual practices

you are invited to consider the following practices this week . . .

(from Matthew 9)     Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, ⁽because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.

As we experience a growing pattern of awareness woven in our life – we will see the world around us differently.  We will see glimpses of God in the most ordinary moments.  Being AWAKENED to God will mean that we are aware of Him in the things we See, Sense, Know, and Do.  

Quieting ourselves, slowing down our often, unrelenting speedy pace of life will mean that we are more aware of the way we take in and process what our senses are responding to.  Creation around us becomes brighter, richer, and louder.  People become more beautiful and valuable.  We recognize we are in the very midst of God and His created order.  

However, until we slow down and silence our over saturated life, we are most likely totally unaware of the judgments we make daily about the information and relationships we are encountering.  We especially make bold and rash value judgements upon the strangers around us.

“That guys a jerk”; “That person is X.”; “What an idiot–don’t they know how to drive?”

How would we be affected if we reserved those rash judgments to take a moment and consider their story?  Even if we don’t know them–and never will—what would it mean for us to first react with compassion?

GET INTO THE FOOT STEPS OF A STRANGER
* In a regular pattern of your day – go to a public place and take a few moments to observe a stranger.
* Once you’ve taken in their outer appearance, take a few more moments watching them, IMAGINING their possible emotions, their possible story, their possible family life, their possible joys, heartaches and brokenness.
* Now imagine them as the Image of God – a living, breathing, interacting, picture of The Living God.
* Pray for them, let the words, just flow.
* Now look again at them, remembering how you first chose this person to observe.  How do you see them differently? 

What would it mean if you encountered each person with the way you ended up looking at this one stranger?

PLEASE TAKE TIME THIS WEEK TO BLOG/SHARE YOUR STORY.