Houses at Night

Maybe it's because I'm A.D.D. (had to put the periods in because it looked like I was trying to scream the word 'add' to you.) or something, I really don't know, but when I'm driving, I look at stuff.  

Sure, I watch the road and avoid pot holes and other cars, but I like to see what's around me, what's going on, and how many dead animals there are on the side of the road.  

But there's something about being out at night...you know...when you're out really late on into the early morning.  There's little traffic, everything seems quiet, everything is just...asleep.  

A couple of weeks ago as I was driving home from the Cincinnati Airport at 4AM, my mind began to wonder as I drove down the interstate passing hundreds of houses spread along the road.  I started thinking, what is it like in those homes?  Is it a happy place?  Is a place of torment and frustration?  Is it full of love or full of torment and hurt?  

These questions don't hit me at day, but only at night, when the lights are off, or maybe a bathroom light is on.  And I don't know why, but my heart went out to all of these houses I passed and I kept thinking, I hope everyone is ok in there.  

There's not much I can do for the people in the houses I passed I suppose, I guess technically I could drive back up there during the day, ring the door bell, and ask whoever answers if they are ok.  Only to hear some little kid scream "STRANGER DANGER" and send some huge dog with equally huge teeth after me.  But that's not logical I suppose.

What is logical, is for me to check and make sure my house is ok, and to check the people around me that I love, that their houses are ok.  Ask my neighbors and check and see if their houses are ok, hopefully inspiring and training others to do the same. 

One thing my personality lacked growing up was a word called 'compassion' coupled with the words 'for others.'  Just not something I developed, but now that I've experienced it, both toward me and me to others, it's interesting.  

Interesting because it hurts when you find hurt, it's awesome when you come across joy, it's humbling when it's directed toward you, encouraging by love, and discouraging by the pain.  Many times, all of this happens all at once, which makes us a little crazy.  

Compassion, it is worth us giving up our comfort to show, to give, to receive.  It's worth us taking an interest in others, to see if they are ok.  It's worth our time, energy, and it's worth our stress levels.  Compassion was shown to us through Christ, now it's our turn to show it to others through our lives.   

The Other Night

This kind of sounds like some sort of title to a cheesy horror movie doesn't it?  Let's say it together in that scary voice...THE OTHER NIGHT!  Yeah that was stupid.  

But seriously, the other night I had to drive a bus load of people to the Cincinnati airport, they had to be there before 5AM, which meant we had to leave Danville by 2:30AM.  Now, I don't stay up very late anymore, I used to as a college guy watching 3 showings of Sportcenter, but not so much anymore.  But, I will have to admit, I was kind of excited about the whole thing, the thought of being out all night long still has that ring to it doesn't it?  

The trip up was uneventful, just a bunch of sleeping people on the bus, my i-pod on my ears, and a bright moon and clear sky.  After I dropped them off I headed back alone on the bus, still dark, still the moon, still my i-pod, and a cup of root beer.  I don't know why, but the moon light coming in the bus through the windows and on to me absolutely calmed me.  Maybe it was the mystery, maybe it was the fact that I was 'out all night,' or maybe something deeper.  

Maybe it's simply how the moon is...well hopefully...just like you and me.  I stared at the moon probably a little too long on that ride home, ignoring the fact that I had lost count of the deer I'd seen on the side of the road.  But I couldn't stop thinking about how the light of the moon isn't produced by the moon itself, but it's the reflection of the sun.  

Am I a good moon?  What light am I reflecting?  If I moon you I'm pretty sure it'd be just as white...but we'll stay away from that topic.  

David Crowder wrote a song about this very thing and how just as the moon reflects the light of the sun in the dark night, we too need to reflect the light of Christ in this dark world.  Not in a way that confuses people with how we act at different times, but makes people want to see what's on the other side, what's that light bouncing off of us.  

What do you reflect?