The Transcendent Quality...

From my seat at the table nearest the bumped out window, I could just see him. About 6 feet tall, dressed in a denim shirt and khakis, with a medium-sized afro and short beard. His mouth moved in unison with mine, inside the pizza shop on the other side of the glass.

That was when it hit me: the transcendent quality of ABBA.

Here was this huge, homeless black man with a reusable Wal-mart shopping bag, singing "Dancing Queen" along with the radio that was audible even outside the restaurant as I, a little white girl with a warm bed to sleep in and a stomach full of pizza bianca, sang right along with them. It's actually a little awe-inspiring that two people from two different socio-economc strata and backgrounds both knew all the words and couldn't help but shamelessly belt them out. Well, I was kind of singing under my breath, as I was with other people; he was belting and he knew all the moves (it was too good to not be choreographed). 

An almost involuntary smile tugged at the corners of my mouth as I watched him.

As silly as it seems, that was a sort of cosmic moment for me. For that two minutes of '70's pop song, I was able to look past the superficial contrasting elements of two lives and be reminded that we are all human beings. We are all eternal being, spirit children of a loving Heavenly Father. 

It's really humbling when He parts the curtain just a little bit and allows us to see one another the way He sees us. With all the war, riots, genocide, and vitriol-spewing pundits out there in the world, it's becoming more and more important to know that there is at least one person who doesn't see us based on our race, or our employment status, or our political views or our religious affiliation. He sees us as His*; infinite beings with infinite divine potential.

*Does that mean that he's pleased with everything we do or say? Absolutely not. He wants us to be happy-- truly happy-- and to meet our full potential, which is why He gives us commandments; guidelines to help us reach that happiness and potential. People who throw around "Jesus loves me" as an excuse to do whatever they want miss the point. This life isn't about whether or not Heavenly Father or Jesus love us (that's been proven and re-proven a million times over); it's about whether or not we love them. Hopefully, at some point in our progression, we will be able to keep the commandments simply because we love them, regardless of the promised blessings.

"If ye love me, keep my commandments." John 14:15