They're all around us.

Everywhere you look, there they are.  Every person you walk past in the grocery store looking for snacks in one of them.  Every person that moves through your peripheries as you march through traffic.  Every person you have ever laid eyes on, every person you have ever ignored, and every person you have never met.  They're everywhere, the indescript multitudes of amazing people.  Have you ever thought about the fact that every person you encounter on your day has traversed an infinite amount of life experience, emotions, and endeavors?  How often do you stop to listen to some one else's story?  How often do you pause and stop your endless rat-race to marinate in the minds and imaginations of your fellow humans?  If your like me, not often enough.

For the past year I've been grabbing coffee and meals with a man who is a few years my senior.  He's the type of guy that often gets overlooked.  Normally, if I was to run into him amidst my daily activities I would surely not notice him, but for whatever reason we've developed a friendship and it has been truly life-giving.  I've enjoyed hearing his perspective on politics, his stories of childhood, his sentiment about tragedy, and a plethora of other conversation topics.  He is beyond words, amazing.  

This is my point:  You never know who is next to you.  He or She could be the most amazing person you ever meet.  My hope is that I will never become so rigid, or stuck in my daily patterns that I may overlook a friend like the one I've made this last year.  Always be open to the life stories of others and never underestimate anyone, because within each individual human is an infinite wealth of experience and potential worth sacrificing anything for.  

Thanks Jim.

Gets up early in the morning

at work again he mopes

thankless for his laboring

he'll be heard soon he hopes

At break he reads and disappears

he thinks about his life

his love for sports and his lonely fears

remembering good times

How he feels like he's all alone

trapped inside this airport

he loads the bags all to be flown

to lands and distant shores

He wonders when he'll catch his break

and his dreams will finally take

We don't see who you are and 

we won't know your charm

if we never take the time

to get to know the man 

the character inside oh Jim

All he's seen and all he's done

the people that he's met

don't know what they missed out on

the moment that they left

They could not see his greatness

he didn't fit their mold

humble hearts can seem like less

but his is made of gold

He's full of love and so meek

loyalty to stay by your side 

until the day you die

don't let him pass you by

We don't see who you are and 

we won't know your charm

if we never take the time

to get to know the man 

the character inside oh Jim

They day is ending and  its time for bed

not a quarter past nine

joyful rest as he lays his head

the love of his divine

Soon he'll wake to another day

this crazy world is blind

we did not know that we walked away

from one of a kind

So may we heed his story

what matters is inside

may we sing his journey

with dignity and pride