There are no "Ordinary" People

Yesterday evening I had a clarifying moment. I was reading The Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis, and one of the lines that stood out to me was this, "There are no ordinary people". What Lewis was getting at was the fact that every single one of us is destined for the spiritual realm, whether that be glory with God, or not. The whole essay is specifically about how humanity has an inborn desire for something more, something beyond the physical realm. This was what I was thinking about when my clarifying moment at the coffee shop in the library on the first Monday evening of the spring semester.

Here is the thought. All of Humanity is connected together. Whether you want to call it reason, morality, language, or all of the above, Humanity shares something that connects us all. Lewis argues that it is the spiritual realm, I agree with him, but just because I agree with Lewis does not mean that both of us are necessarily right. As I was thinking about how connected humanity is, I looked around the cafe and noticed a couple friends talking and smiling and laughing. I saw another group studying in one of the glass study/conference room. I saw another girl studiously pouring over the pages of a text book. I witnessed people come up to the coffee counter for a hot beverage on a cold evening. Every single one of those people have desires. A life. They all enjoy different things. They all have their own down falls. Every single one of these people that I was looking at is different from the others.

I mean sure, humans naturally end up attracting people that are similar to them. And that, by no means, is a bad thing. It is good that humans feel as though they fit in with people that are similar to them. But as much as we attract people that are like us, we should also revel and celebrate the diversity which lives not only within our own lives and emotions, but also in the lives and emotions of every other person in the world. We fit together, no matter how different we are, like pieces of a giant puzzle. Too often we let differences cause division, which then results in conflict, pain, and suffering.

I know I am just as bad as any other person when it comes to judging people. I see someone who is a bit of a douche bag and then I classify them as a douche bag afterwards, which prevents me from thinking about their own thoughts and desires and their own lives in general, and how we are connected together. I can't do that any more. I don't want to do that anymore. I want to fully love and respect anyone and everyone that comes into my life. Because, after all, as Lewis writes, "There are no ordinary people". When we interact with other humans, we are not just talking to a person, but we are talking to someone who is searching, and destined, for glory in the spiritual realm. They are absolutely, positively loved by God, and we are all part of His magnificent tapestry. Who am I to judge someone because they have different tastes, or world views or what have you than mine?