Everything Around Her Is A Silver Pool Of Light

A friend and I were sharing recently the idea that everyone has "A Story", a reason for why they are who they are. A Past. A History. We were humoring over whose "story" we would want to know and whose we might already know, just by looking at them. Since our discussion, I've begun to see people, even random strangers, in a new light. They are somehow bigger, and though they may not have impacted me, I know they must've impacted the world in some unusual way at some point in time. Suddenly for me, everyone has this secret identity within them that only they might know.

We aren't made of glass, or cellophane for that matter, so no one can really see through anyone else to simply know how they were treated as a child... or what they were fed... or whether they played with other kids on the playground or by themselves.

It just seems that ever since we briefly discussed this, I've seen people as having an identity rather than just being. Each person is suddenly living, rather than just existing. And I wonder, why don't we get to know each other just a little better? Why don't we ask about each other's story's? Do we forget that the person sitting across from us has lived and loved and cried and these things have essentially created and shaped who they are?

It dawned on me that even my closest friends and family have a story that I probably don't know to its' fullest. I don't know cause I've never asked. And they've never shared. And no one ever thought twice about it.

And I must be clear that I do believe that each story holds sadness, but also greatness. And it is our duty to know both if we are to want it shared.

My friend also, on a separate encounter, shared the following excerpt with me:

It is every one's duty to pray to God for their friends. And for all their friends, whether they are numerous or few. To make a habit of it may be to impose considerable demands upon time and memory, but it is not merely worthwhile, it is a matter of supreme importance. If you've only a handful of friends, it won't take long, and if you're one of the lucky ones, with more friends than you can remember all at once, card-index them. Pray for them in installments, but pray for them. Nobody knows what they may be doing if they pray for a friend tonight. Hugh Redwood, God in the Shadows

Everyone has a story. And though you may think you know your friends and everything going on in their life, you don't. And chances are there are some things that will never be shared, good and bad. I do believe that we can all do each other some good by praying for the good of those stories in order for them to continue raveling and unraveling as time allows. And if you are one who does not pray, you should at least consider them in deep thought, and I can guaruntee that you will indeed be prayed for still.