A single yellow line, sometimes dotted, sometimes solid, separates the coming and the going.
Dashes and parallel boundaries comprised of nothing but paint on asphalt, keep people on their own sides. To avoid collisions. To protect. To keep order.
People pass each other in cars, completely unaware of what is going on on the other side of that imaginary wall of protection. You go this way and I’ll go that. So much safer that way.
Which works well, at least most of the time, when we’re talking about streets and modes of transportation.
But how often do we stay on our own side of the bright yellow line when it comes to socio-economic status or personality preferences and similarities? How often do we avoid the other side of the line to stay within the comfort of our own guarded and well-preserved box of experience? To stay safe. To avoid collision of two different worlds.
I am speaking to myself first and foremost here. It’s too easy, too natural, for me to continue to get caught up in the busyness of my own familiar world and to go on forgetting the forgotten. To not listen to those whose voices are silent. To ignore those whose lives or thinking or way of doing things is different than mine.
I would rather keep my eyes on my own side of the road, my own side of the tracks, to keep a possible collision at bay. Collisions can be painful and messy and extremely inconvenient. They might slow me down. They might change my perspective a bit. They will definitely require extra time, attention and effort.
But what if I went from driving down my road of life, mindlessly staring at my own side of the yellow line, to deliberately looking to the left and right as I go to see opportunities and people that aren’t in my normal line of vision? What if I stopped along the way to help those I haven’t noticed before, to talk with those I’d never heard before and to reach out to those with silent cries?
What if the collision of two worlds didn’t scare me, but thrilled me? What if I realized that the only thing standing between me and another person outside of my normal “box” is just an imaginary yellow line? An invisible wall constructed by my own fear.
I want to walk down the road today with at least one toe stepping over that line of separation. I want to push past my own comfort and preference and truly live like Jesus did. Free from my carefully constructed lane of protection. Hands and feet and heart ready for any given opportunity with those just off my beaten path. Eyes and ears wide open.
To go from yellow lines to colors still undiscovered…
Matthew 9:35 – Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.
Luke 8:43-48 – And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped. “Who touched me?” Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.” But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.” Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”
Luke 15:2 – But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
Luke 19:10 – For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.
Matthew 10:42 – And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded.
Matthew 25:40 – “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'”
