I guess there’s just no telling about people. Sometimes I’m waiting in line at the Walmart, and I look at an ordinary looking man and think, “Is he like FReeper So-and-so? How would I ever know?”
I think there are advantages to not knowing what people really think. You can imagine they’re nice. The internet takes that away. On the other hand, you can get to know marvelous people you would never get the chance to speak to in real life.
On the other hand I have met some really great people. My mother had a medical scare a little while ago and Salvation had the prayer warriors out in a heart beat.
It will; al come out on judgment day.
When riding on the city bus I used to look at people and try to imagine if they had a story ( don't know exactly how to say this) -- something that would explain that scowl, or that defiant straightening of the shoulders, or those expensive multi-colored fingernails, a story that would help me understand them. I'd think, that man, that severe, almost scary face: he might be fighting cancer. That lady is going to prove to her aunt that she WILL finish college. That girl wants to be as glamorous as her older sister. That guy is working two jobs to raise his kids and pay off his student loan." Whatever.
It's the stuff of novels, but somehow I don't have the drive to be a novelist. I just want to think of something in their "inscape" (to use Hopkins' word) that would explain their outer presentation in a sympathetic way.
Naive, I guess. Helps me pray.