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There are no ordinary people

mom8thgrade

“It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare.  All day long we are in some degree helping each other to one or other of these destinations.  It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics.  There are no ordinary people.  You have never talked to a mere mortal.  Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations – these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat.  But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit – immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.”

C. S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory (New York, 2001), pages 45-46.  Italics original.

My brother-in-law recently found this old photograph of my mom when she was in the eighth grade.  The dear, wee girl.  Pure, lovely, sincere.  Only God could then see the mighty servant of his that she would become – and still is, now more than ever.  I am so thankful for her, so much more than I can say.

I wonder what became of her two companions there with her.  One thing none of them ever was, one thing none of us ever is, is just ordinary.  After our worship of God, this is the most important thing to bear in mind in every interaction at every moment.

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