I was approaching the door of my coffee shop (ahem...chocolate milk shop) when I saw her approaching too. She and I are friendly towards each other although we hardly see each other anymore. We exchanged "Hello....how you doing?" as we both walked into the shop. I don't know how the conversion turned to the topic of where we live, but it did. I said, "Oh, I live just over [yada yada yada]," and she replied, "Really? I live nearby...just over [la la la la la]." Then, I looked at her ....into her face....because something clicked in my subconsciousness that something wasn't right. In my mind I was saying to myself, "Wait! I thought she lived far away over on the other side of downtown...She had a house, right? Hmmmm, what has happened to cause her to live over here?! Is she looking for a house over here?! Why would she do that!?....This is not really her kind of a place (the burbs). Is she ok?...Is everything alright?" I was having this whole internal conversation in my head...my body was moving in slow motion but my mind was racing as I tried to figure out what my heart and spirit was telling me about her. Then....I looked into her eyes. They were full of sorrow and sadness. She was trying to hide her misery behind her smile and my heart saw it all. She recently had lost a relationship and had to move out. It was her girlfriend's house.
I hated to see her in pain like that, but it wasn't an appropriate time for me to ask about it (we were in line and it was her time up at the cash register to put in her order). Oh, have you ever wanted to just hug someone who was in pain but you couldn't because the circumstances aren't right? I didn't see her as a gay or lesbian woman at that moment...all I saw was a broken heart. You know, Jesus didn't see a loose woman at the well when he looked upon the Samaritan woman. Jesus saw a soul that was lost and in pain and He spoke with kindness to her.
No matter the lifestyle of a person, there is a time for kindness and compassion for their heart and soul. There are people we come in contact with everyday whose eyes are hiding the pain in their heart. They may be confused or troubled, or they may be fearful and full of despair. You know what I've started doing? I've started to pray in my heart for people as I see them and then at night I pray for them out loud. It is my way of staying honest before God....it is important to pray for others. So many people have no one to pray for them...it is a shame. How blessed you and I are if there is but one person praying for us.
