Where have all the normal people gone?

The older I get, the more I notice the behavior and attitudes of other people.

Let me give you some examples…

I’m standing in line at the checkout and the person in front of me is carefully placing their items on the counter making sure nothing will get smashed or damaged. Then she looks at her phone while the items are being scanned. Now her demeanor changes and she appears to be frazzled and she begins to put the bagged items in her cart. But she is not careful any longer. She quickly tosses them and stacks them on top of another with no care about what could be smashed or crushed. I think, really?

Then there are some that I secretly would like to slap; I speak metaphorically here.  For instance when I am talking with someone and another person from across the same room, but not in the conversation interrupts and begins to give their [negative] opinion on the subject. And I think, [as I bite my lip] really?

Or those who try to use humor to put other people down, or use sarcasm, often in the pretense of humor, (putting other people down isn’t witty.) Again I think, really?

Or the parent shopping with a young child or toddler that criticizes or threatens the little one into submission; or the parent that continues to ignore their little one who is bawling and obviously is in need of comfort, (yes, a parent can tell the difference between needing comfort and a temper tantrum).

And I ask myself, where have all the normal people gone? Then again what is normal in today’s world? It certainly looks different from the normal when my children were little.

I know that life hurts, and often seems unfair. I know that bad things happen to good people. I know that people have bad days and life can become difficult. I know that friends can be hard to find because the world seems to be more and more filled with self-absorbed, narcissistic, Facebook I-took-another-picture-of-myself-in-the-bathroom-mirror-type posting people. Along with the hate filled rants about politics!

However living during this era can bring new opportunities for connections that one would otherwise never have. It brings possibilities that even twenty years ago would never have been. And I ask myself will I use these opportunities or will I shut them out and stay closed off from the help and encouragement I could give through these connections, much less what I could learn from the world around me?

And though I’m tempted, at times to hideaway and seclude myself— I can’t do this. There’s an inherent part of me that cares about others; that causes me to want to reach out and help them; to teach them; so much so that this might be what defines me in my life; what largely defines my authentic self and my passion in life…

To help lift people up and out of where they are and help them to see there is a better way. A way that will lead them to a road, that although it will have some bumps and will even have a few pot holes; there will be help along the way. There will be love and support; for there is the Eternal God of this universe that loves them and wants to bring them to a place of comfort and joy. And it is there that my desire lies… to encourage and exhort those who desire a better way and to encourage the disenfranchised… one person at a time; one blog at a time; one YouTube vlog at a time.

That they will know what is the very best. That they will be true and without blame until the day Christ comes again; as we are told in Philippians 1:10 [paraphrased].

So where have all the “normal” people gone?

They’re right here. They’re reading this post. Each and every one of us has the opportunity every day to make each day a new day. Though we all are different we all desire to be authentic to ourselves and to our Lord. Some of us will have a camera in their hand everywhere they go and while they may want to be inconspicuous they know there are those that will look upon them as a bit of a screw ball and worse yet with disdain.

But each of us must stop living the lie that we must fall into what is considered normal. Instead we should consider what God regards as normal. Each of us are accepted exactly the way we are. However that looks! Maybe normal [by the world's standard] is for people without any courage!