People vs. Souls

Yesterday, I was coming out of the subway and saw someone reading a paper that announced “24 People Dead in LA train crash.” I started thinking about that headline, and it occurred to me that we (and the media) now say “people dead” or “people killed” when referring to death and tragedy. Decades ago (maybe even centuries ago?) newspapers used to say “souls lost” when referring to death. I remember visiting the Titanic exhibit at the Franklin Institute, and the newspapers said “Hundreds of SOULS lost.”

So, then I started thinking, as I was walking home, that we don’t often think of people as souls anymore. We have kind of lost that sense of spirituality as a culture. How long until the headlines start becoming even more blatant, and saying “3 humans dead,” instead of even calling them people?

I decided right then and there, that as I continued my walk home along the street, I would think of each person I saw as a “soul” a “being” and a PERSON. It was really astonishing, how my attitude quickly changed. I immediately sensed more compassion. I saw a homeless man with plastic bags and skipping ropes wrapped around his feet for shoes, and I didn’t try to avoid him or ignore him. I saw him the way God would see him- as a SOUL. As a person with feelings, a spirit, a person who someone somewhere loves and cares about. A dad, an uncle, a brother maybe. As I kept walking through the crowds of people, I imagined them not just as faces, or OBSTACLES that I needed to get around and avoid bumping into to get to where I needed to go, but as souls in physical bodies, moving just like I was, having thoughts just like do. Sharing burdens, worries, and pain, just like I do.

I’m telling you, it totally changed my perception, and I felt this lightness, this awareness about the value of strangers, and how selfish I had become. As a New Yorker, I’m always avoiding eye-contact, blocking out the world, and just being concerned about my schedule and my life. So, I’m going to try and be more aware that people are SOULS and have value, no matter how rude they treat me.