The invisible people in our daily lives are out there. Of course they are not really invisible, but we have made it so to ourselves and to our souls. I travel a lot, and see a lot of people who are invisible to us. The waiter at breakfast in a hotel, the room cleaners, bathroom attendants in a busy airport, thousands whose opinions are ignored and their contribution is unrewarded by a smile or acknowledgement in the workplace.

We all serve in our lives, but yet we seem to have different classes of servant hood, some seem more important than others, noticeable, or rewardable. Does this really make sense? Do the servants not make the wedding more successful? Are they considered part of the celebration or just the decorations for our own pleasure?

What if we were to notice their contribution today? How do we feel when we are serving others?

Let Me Be Your Server Today

Let me be your server today

Each step is an active part of my love.

Moving towards the table needing clearing,

Responding to an empty cup,

Smiling to a face far from home.

  

Reponses vary,

According to mood and pressure.

Sometimes I am invisible,

No one sees me,

Only what I deliver,

And if it’s on time.

However, there is always one,

One who sees me and what I do,

For what it really is,

Loving and giving,

Supporting and consistent.

There when others need me,

No asking for gifts or rewards from them.

Just a smile and greeting,

To show they love me.

 

Just as I love them.

 

As I read this meditation/poem what does it mean to me?
Who are the invisible people in my life? What happens when I encounter them? Do I notice them? How do I treat them? Am I invisible to someone?

The first step in helping ourselves move along a road of interior reflection is noticing what is happening around us in our lives. This seems like a pretty simple thing to do, but for many years I went through each day without savoring anything that was being tasted. I rushed from one minute to the next focusing on little but the next moments; those to come.

The only way to start on a road of reflection is to begin to live in the now, the present. God lives in the present. It is there we will meet Him and we meet him first by noticing our own activities. Listening with our heart to what is happening, why it’s happening. Now if I sound like one of those people who find meaning in almost everything, it is because, I do find meaning in almost all the happenings of our lives. It was not always that way.

So today start by noticing what is going on. Slow down, listen, and you will be surprised. Don’t worry about trying to analyze everything, but start to notice it. Journal your day, or even your week. Notice the small things as well as the big ones. Imagine someone made a movie of your life this week. Your own reality show, starring you and God.

It’s a challenge to notice things going on around us. Some of it is the obvious nature of what goes on in a frenetic existence, but routine and boredom can also be a cause. Just as the human eye scans sections of the image in front of us and then puts it together in our brain, there are pieces we know are there, but we haven’t noticed them.
Some might call this camouflage of the senses, but often, to those around us, it’s an ineffective excuse for rudeness and uncaring behavior.

When we don’t speak to the person who we consider more significant than another what message does that send? And to all those around us?

Patterns

Patterns

Sometimes, actually a lot, I miss stuff.

It is lost in my every day,

unnoticed, or heavily disguised,

whatever,

it is missed.

Might be an image, a familiar noise,

people, food,

the autopilots in my life,

painting a backdrop which seems to be only

one color and one sound.

Gray and bleak.

So let today be different.

As I read this meditation/poem what does it mean to me?
What patterns are hidden in my life? Do I see my day in color or shades of gray? Are those patterns sounds, or visual, behavior, ritual? Do I like the patterns I see? What are they telling me?

Reflection, photograph and poem Copyright 2019 Michael J. Cunningham

Speaking the words of God is an awesome responsibility, and yet sometimes we place our inflection on those words so others may congratulate us on our presentation skills, our dulcet tones and other self-satisfying metrics of the world. (Perhaps the word inflection should be replaced with infection.)

When we hear the words “Thy Will Be Done, Not Mine,” are we really saying them as if we truly mean it? Perhaps, but often we still want to know others appreciate us, our words, etc. Do we really need the applause after presenting something from scripture, or something spiritual for others to consider? Do we want to get between the person and the Holy Spirit?

I don’t think so. If we do, then it becomes about me, not about the listener’s relationship with God. When we consider our role in the world, as a Christian, we have a responsibility to “do the right thing,” making ourselves secondary. In fact, when you do something genuinely selfless, without expectation of a result and leave the cards to fall where they may, it often results in the most beautiful outcomes. This is because we have already placed ourselves in a good situation in relation to God. We have surrendered our personal goals and success objectives for the common good of another.

What you do for the least of my brothers, you do to me. (Matthew 25:40)

One Voice

So today, perhaps I may think differently.

Not using God’s words with my voice, but talking in one voice.

A voice which listens to God, but does not drown God out.

A voice which discerns what should be said.

A voice which determines how it should be said.

XXX

One voice, but not my voice alone.

God, lead me to lose my solo voice and become a duet with you.

Which voice do I hear?