The Others

So...Lent is in full swing.  Woo.  And, I'm happy to announce I have been successful in my efforts to abstain from alcohol and eating after 9:00pm (with the exception of a few raw snap peas the other night [healthy snacks are okay, right?]).

And, since we're on the topic (and it's the topic I want to be on anyway...), the church I go to here in Harrisonburg, RISE, is doing something pretty cool throughout the season of Lent.  There is a midnight prayer group that meets at Greenberry's on Wednesday mornings (or Tuesday nights...you know, that awkward time where the day changes but nobody actually knows what to call it).  It's a time for people to get together and really focus on praying for the world, the community, and personal issues.  There are times for group discussions, small group discussions, and prayer throughout.  I just went for the first time (I missed the first meeting) and was pleasantly surprised by what was discussed and prayed about.

Something that I mentioned while I was there (and something I have been thinking about for a while now) was about "the others".  There is this concept that has come up within RISE and the sermons lately about people who fall into this category of "others".  It's the people that are the least-of-these people, the different-than-me people, the outcasts-of-society people; they're the people that you don't talk to or even look at sometimes because it's not common and they're not "cool".  These are the people Jesus is talking about when he says:

³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’...⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’  --Matthew 25

So, the others are out there.  They can take many different forms based on your own perception and worldview.  But, they're out there and they need to feel the same love you share with your friends and family (you know, those people who are "cool" and able to be looked upon).

Something I've been thinking about, though, is how I really want to focus on and be accepting of how much of an other I'm trying to become.  I have a desire and a passion to help those who are hurting in a way many people don't know much about, but many people are suffering through.  I want to work to restore hope and drive to live to those who have lost it, I want to give feeling back to those who think the only way they'll feel again is through self-inflicted pain, I want to instill in people a knowledge that yes, one day it will get better no matter what they're feeling right now.  I want to work with the marginalized and overlooked, the "emo" kids who are "just in a phase".

Who does this though?  Not "normal" people!

Well, you know, if being normal means I can't reach out to the people who are hurting and don't know who to turn to, then why would I ever want to be normal?  By reaching out to these people (who, believe it or not, have the same imprint of the same God on them as I do, as you do) I am going to be placing myself into this "the others" category in the eyes of most of the people of this world...and I'm finally okay with that!

So, I'm going to be an other.  Good.


Tonight's Playlist:
"Surprisingly Loud Television" -- The Next Door Neighbor I've Never Seen (Feat: The Occasional Loud Stomping and/or Falling of Bodies of the Upstairs Neighbors)