July 23, 2008

• When You Give Someone A Cookie

  The other night I was reading Lisa Whittle’s post. She always
  makes me think. It was about how one of her dear friends didn’t like
  her initially. Ouch. But this woman decided to pray for her. Now, she
  is one of those friends that Lisa can call any time.

  I had taped a show Friday night called Flashpoint.
  It’s a new cop type show. Given that everything else is reruns, I
  decided to tape it. I finally got around to watching it. Here’s the
  storyline. A man gets the page
  letting him know that he should rush his daughter to the hospital for a
  heart transplant. They get there and settled in only to find out that
  there was a mix up and the heart is going to someone else. The dad has
  been up for three days straight in a vigil over his dying daughter. The
  stress breaks him. He grabs a security guy’s gun and takes hostages.

  Of
  course, that is when they call in the team. I haven’t watched it enough
  to know the names of everyone yet. But “Head Guy” goes in to negotiate
  with him. Others are watching him on the monitor. The dad wants the TV
  turned back on for his daughter. Rule #1, never give a hostage taker
  anything without getting something in return. So, Head Guy asks dad to
  ask each person if they are okay. He does this but skips the man on
  gurney who is slated to get the heart. Head Guy says, “What about him?
  Is he okay?” He encourages dad to ask him.

  The rest of the team
  who are watching debrief this for us. It turns out that one of the
  tactics is to make the hostage into a person. By having dad ask the
  hostage if he is okay, the hostage begins to become a person rather
  than a means to an end.

  Lisa’s post fit right in with this. It
  made me think of work. One woman works in another office. One day when
  I was still very new, she came in the back door, walked to my desk, and
  demanded that I look something up for her. I was in the process of
  leaving and I was use to people going to the counter. I got really
  flustered and was offended by her tone. I managed to find what she
  needed but decided that I didn’t like her at all. After she left, they
  explained who she was and all, but it didn’t help me liking her.

  A
  couple months ago I made my famous chocolate chip cookies. (I’m
  probably overly proud of them.) I took some to the office. As I was
  taking a short break, God prompted me to put three on a little plate
  and take them down to this woman. From that time forward, every time I
  walk by she waves. If she comes into the office, she stops to talk to
  me. When you give someone a cookie or a prayer or a smile, sometimes
  you forge a connection because you have made them human.

  I’ve probably used this C.S. Lewis quote before, but I think it sums things up so nicely that I’ll use it again.

  It
  is a serious thing 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 meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day
  long, we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or the other of
  these destinations. It is in the light of those overwhelming
  possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to
  them, that we should conduct all our dealing with one another, all
  friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary
  people.

  When we remember another’s humanness, we
  treat them with more humanity. When we remember that they may have
  things going on in their lives that we know nothing about, we can
  respond with mercy and kindness. When we treat them with respect even
  when we might not feel respected, we give them dignity. When we offer
  kindness, we never know what doors God will open up.

  • 6:01 pm
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