Advent Day 15: Have you noticed?

Today in church, we hear the Psalm Isaiah 12:2-3, 4, 5-6. I’m particularly struck by the refrain:

Cry out with joy and gladness:

for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.

These past few days, I’ve spent a lot of time in elevators. At stores, at medical office buildings, in residences, these contraptions are wonderful people movers, but they make relating to others a bit of a problem. Or, at least, a puzzle. As you stand ready to go into an elevator, for example, the doors may open and a crowd may emerge, each person eager to be on his or her way. No eye contact. No greetings. No smiles. Simply bodies moving and others taking their places.

Or, so it would seem.

I try not to be quite so clinical about people and elevators. I try to remember that, we might be merely moving from one floor to another, never to meet again, but we might as well have an enjoyable time while we’re at it. And, as the Psalm refrain reminds us, “among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.”

Each person we pass, however briefly, was created in God’s likeness and image. A kind expression, a smile, a greeting, however brief, is an expression of respect for one another, and a sign that we are more than mere passers-by.

Blessings for the day,

Maureen