perceptions

I sat on my porch yesterday, feeding the squirrels some peanuts as I usually do in the mornings. First there was  one squirrel, then one became three, then three five. They were scurrying about, grabbing as many peanuts as they could, then scampered off to bury them somewhere, coming back for more. It was after awhile that I noticed a sixth squirrel. He had a loping gait, shuffling up almost lopsided, then sniffed for the prize before finding one. As it sat up and munched, it was then I noticed two things: it had only one eye, obviously a birth defect, and the other squirrels shunned it, sometimes going out of their way to be as nasty as they could in their greed to have as many peanuts to themselves as possible. In the ways of nature this squirrel was a liability. It could only see from one side, thus if an intruder happened along, it may have become lunch and unable to alert the others, put them at risk as well.

I felt for that little animal.Then I realized that humans are just as mean, but we are supposed to have common sense! Yet we shun those who don't look as we do, act as we do, talk as we do...admit it! We pick on the weaker, the disabled, the ones with mental issues, the homeless, the alcoholics/addicts, the poor, the sick...it begins in school, when we realize that not everyone is just like us, so we find those groups who are. It culminates in high school, we have our cliques and God forbid anyone joining! Even as adults, we have our circles, choosing to live where others like us live: affluence=affluence, poor=poor, etc. If a group home tried to move into an affluent neighborhood, you can bet the association will have more than few words to the city council about that! ("Not in my neighborhood!") That is why halfway houses, group homes, battered women's shelters, etc, are in poorer neighborhoods.

I have a neighbor who is just the sweetest gal. She is only 38, but looks twenty years older. Every time she sees me, she grabs me in a hug and says, "Oh, Diane, I am still praying for you, you know that! You are my best neighbor! I love you!" And I return her earnest hug, thankful that I have an angel watching over me! She has snapdragons and marigolds in her flowerbed, she has a cat that sits on her windowsill. She carries a lunch cooler to work when she gets on her bus. She greets everyone on that bus before she sits down. Her house has been egged twice and kids are sure to taunt her every Halloween, calling her a witch. They just don't understand or see who she is inside because of what they perceive on the outside: she is a diagnosed schizophrenic. Though on disability, she goes to work each day at a place that takes in disabled folks and gives them jobs that allow them their dignity.

She is just like that one eyed squirrel, shunned by her own kind because she is "different" somehow. Yet she is one of God's greatest creations!

Today, take a look around you. Who have you set aside? The only way peace can happen in our world is when we embrace the outcasts and the "different." I wouldn't be too surprised if, when we get to heaven, we will be greeted by such as these! They will be at the head of the line, waiting for us!