Love people, bring healing

I took my first Uber, alone this past week. My husband coached me through the process. He’s an expert. It was easier than I expected. He told me not to forget to check the license plate on the back of the car. As I did, the driver stepped out to help me load my bag. License plate checked out.

I won’t lie. I was uneasy riding in the car. As a female, there is this sense of vulnerability when I am alone, at night, with someone I don’t know. I hate that it’s like that in our world. It is what it is. So I chat it up with the driver, Johnny, hoping it puts me at ease. Vulnerability can be a frequent visitor.

I don’t remember what we started talking about, probably the weather. It’s a safe topic and usually leads into something else. With snow in the forecast, we began rehashing old stories from the Atlanta snow storm of 2014. He shared a long story of his 10 hour ordeal to get safely home to his family. He was a talker. I listened. He’s a family man. I am a bit more at ease. Connecting with people seems to do that, put us at ease.

We went on to chat about the goodness of people – all those who offered to help the stranded that snowy night. People are good we agreed.

We talked about intentional loving. I told Johnny that I had decided not to rush by people who crossed my path each day, but to slow down, notice them, make more time for eye contact, a smile, maybe a few words. He said, “loving people brings healing. It’s the only thing that will unite our country.” He went on to say, “I’m a Christian and I just want to love people whether they are black, white, young, old, whatever religion, background, etc…” I said, “I’m a Christian too and that’s exactly how I feel!”

Jesus said, “love your neighbor as yourself.” Love requires vulnerability.

The rest of the drive home flew by as we talked and talked about our call to love and bring healing to others. I felt like we could have talk for hours.

When we arrived at my home, Johnny got out of the car and grabbed my bag. I reached out to shake his hand to thank him. Instead, he met me with a hug and said, “God bless you.” I hugged him back and returned the blessing. One of my sons came out to greet me. Johnny hugged him too.

Jesus came into a world full of divisiveness. That’s nothing new. People feared the Romans. Jews and Samaritans avoided each other at all cost. Gentiles were thought unclean by the Jews. Even the Pharisees and Sadducees couldn’t agree. The region encompassed different languages, different cultures, different religions. People didn’t always understand one another or agree.

I don’t know much about religion and even less about history, but I know that when Jesus showed up, He spoke to anyone, anywhere, about anything. He broke all the cultural and social “rules” of his day. He was not impacted by stereotypes and nothing stopped Him from loving people. He spoke to outcasts. He spoke to prostitutes. He spoke to Samaritans and He spoke to Gentiles. He spoke to those in high places and he spoke to the lowly – all to bring love and healing. If Jesus came to love all, why shouldn’t we? Why would our call be any different? There isn’t a more vulnerable place than being naked on the cross for love’s sake. For His sake, I can entertain the visitor of vulnerability and share His love and healing.

Love people, bring healing.