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Today is Easter.  For those who are unfamiliar with the holiday, Easter marks the day that Jesus Christ rose from the dead to show that he was truly God.  This post will not be a “praise Jesus” entry.  I feel that so many Christians only use this holiday to evangelize, when we are commanded to do so on an on-going, regular basis.  Instead, I’d like to focus on what this holiday means to me.

If you follow me on twitter or on facebook, you may know that I suffered a back injury about a month ago.  It’s been difficult for me to stand or sit for long hours at a time.  But this injury has actually been one of the most interesting experiences in my life.  I’ve been getting regular cortisone-steroid shots directly into my spine.  I now know what it feels like to get an epidural!  Women, I do not envy you.

But mostly, I’ve enjoyed the human interaction I’ve been having with the various medical staff.  For the most part, these are people who I’ll only interact with for a brief moment in time.  I know nothing about them, except the fact that they work there.  I don’t know if they have kids, they are divorced, just committed a crime, what their favorite ice cream is…  All I know is that for the next 10-15 minutes, I will be sharing a moment in time with them.

It dawned on me several years ago that behind every face is a story.  Behind that story, are emotions that we might not be able to comprehend.  Behind those emotions is a person, who is enjoying or hating life.  This person has real issues, or maybe not.  Has two dogs, or maybe two birds.  Has got three kids, or maybe just two.  Is a single parent or struggling through a marriage.

The point of this is that for these 15 minutes, I have the opportunity to add to her problems and frustrations, or I can treat her like a human being, talk to her, and have her feel like she is the most important person in the world.

When you go to the check out counter, how often do you think about the cashier’s life, wondering if he just had a fight with his girlfriend about the dinner he made last night?  When he looks at you angry, do you get angry too?  See, the reality is that so many of us don’t see pass the nameless faces of the people we see that we assume that anything that they do to us is because of us when in reality, that’s not true.  The guy that cut you off isn’t crazy; he’s on his way to the hospital to see a new child into the world.

So many people want to change the world.  But rarely do these same people want to change their world.  I can’t begin to tell you how much a smile does to someone who’s working in McDonald’s.  Or how wonderful some one’s voice sounds when I genuinely ask someone, “How’s your shift going so far?  Has it been busy?”  And yes, I do actually do this.

My encouragement to all Christians is to stop acting like these people only exist in your life for 15 minutes.  My encouragement to those who aren’t Christians is also the same.  Let’s not change the world: start by changing your world.  Together, the world will change itself.