I love the show Seinfeld. The writing is comic genius. All of the characters have different storylines going on at the same time, and by the end of each episode, the storylines tie in together. While I love Jerry’s nonsensicalness, Elaine’s bluntness, George’s cynicism, and Kramer’s craziness, the show makes me think of life.
We all have different storylines and story-arcs. It’s so easy to think that our story is not playing a bigger part in this world. The oddness of this thought, however, is that this is not true. Think about it.
When we’re having a bad day, we don’t treat people as well as we normally would. Our “bad day” affects the life and day of the coffee shop worker we get snippy with, the cashier we dismiss, or the people we walk by who feel invisible. I’m not saying this so we walk around with this weight on our shoulders thinking that we have to talk to everyone and try to befriend anyone, but to understand that our story is a small part of the greater story happening in humanity. Our stories are tied together. The way we treat others slowly changes the way other people interact with each other, like dominos lined up falling down. It seems like Jesus knew what we was saying when He said,
“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law of the Prophets.” - Matthew 7:12 (ESV)
Treating people with love and respect is hard. ESPECIALLY if they drive us crazy or are mean.
As Christians, we’re called to love, and treat people the way we hope others would treat us (with respect, mercy, grace, and above all, LOVE). (If you’re not a Christian, I think you can get something from this post as well, though.) In order to love people, we have to rely on the Holy Spirit, but we also have to realize that we all have a part to play, we all are important, and the world does NOT revolve around MYSELF. We are all telling a story with highs, lows, and adventures. At some point, our story-arcs intersect with another, giving possible plot twists, and good or bad parts in the memoir of life.
So the next time you’re watching re-runs of "the show about nothing", maybe you’ll have something deeper to think about. Maybe you’ll realize the kind of person you want to be in someone else’s story. Maybe you’ll think about how life doesn’t revolve around you.