no ordinary people

The challenge for last weekend in the Lenten series I'm looking at was to define the word "worth." Don't cheat. Don't use Webster's or Google. What does it mean, in essence? And the answer I came up with? Something of worth has a reason for its existence. The world would be poorer without it. If a person, place, or thing is of worth, that means that everything it touches would lose something if it did not exist.

Which caused me to think--what would it look like if we went around treating every human being we come in contact with like he or she is of worth? What if we really believed it? What if we believed it about ourselves? Do you act like the checker you meet at the grocery store, the cop who just pulled you over, or the family member who just irritated you for the fifth time today is someone that the world needs in order to be richer? Because she or he is.

One of my favorite essays by C.S. Lewis puts it this way:

"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 splendours." (C. S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory)

I think it is not at all coincidental that, the day after this definition was in my devotional plan, I heard a fantastic message about this very topic. I pass it on to you with recommendation.(It's #1 on the list.)

http://itunes.apple.com/podcast/id292230187

Whom do you need to see as an immortal today? A family member? A coworker? Yourself?