Phone call

The phone rang at 3am this morning. My heart didn't quite stop as it used to when my mother-in-law was alive and a middle of the night phone call meant that she had fallen or worse, but I was instantly wide awake.

"This is Maureen," I answered. The voice at the other end had the far away quality of a guy on a speaker phone and this guy was also pretty far gone himself. "This is James in the bar and I want to ride in your car," he sang out cheerily.

Paul, who had picked up an extension, noted the Caller ID: "Private Out of Area." We hung up. Our drunken caller pushed Redial and we hung up again. We waited expectantly for a third try, but it never came. Apparently the thrill of the surprise was gone and he went on to annoy other sleepyheads with his nonsensical chatter. To his credit, he was a happy drunk...it could have been worse.

I've been wondering, however, why people get a kick out of disturbing the peace of others, whether it's prank phone calls or media blaring in the neighborhood. Maybe it's because they can; maybe it's because they are low in empathy or maybe it's because they are high in a need for power. Regardless of the cause, some people have a larger footprint than others as we navigate the journey of life and we must learn to live together. The question is, how do we do that?

There's a world of difference, of course, between being inconsiderate and breaking the law, between engaging in high jinks and harassing a neighbor. How we respond to any of it, however, depends on our own vision of what constitutes the "other" on this shared planet. Is that "someone else" a person who is ahead or behind us in the marathon of life or someone who is striding alongside us in one long horizontal line that stretches around the globe?

If others are companions on the journey, then those on either side can reach out to the faltering ones and help them through the tough times. If they are merely other entities who happen to support or impede our progress, then their failings have an effect on us and we have a right to get upset and make them pay when they stumble. Our reaction to the failings of others is rooted in either a belief in a vision of our own extrordinary nature or a belief that we share that extrodinary nature with everyone else.

Jesus made it clear which was his choice. He said "judge not, lest you be judged." His prayer to the Father asks that we be forgiven as we forgive others. The gospel accounts show Jesus refusing to join in the pointing fingers of others. In that spirit, our self absorbed 3am caller deserved at least a mental prayer for his safety in getting home from the bar last night and maybe at least a "God bless you" before we hung up. Who knows the effect that might have had?

The psalmist tells us that God is "the lifter of my head." That means when we are bowed low by shame and discouragement, it is God who reaches out and says, "Chin up, my beloved."

Let's pass it on.