Invisible People

We are surrounded by invisible people. I’m not talking about ghosts or spirits. I refer to living human beings who, through no fault of their own, are either aesthetically unappealing, physically or emotionally impaired, elderly or financially fragile. They exist in the periphery of our vision–or worse–are driving too slow in front of us. If we saw them, there would be no need to ‘raise awareness’. Not for autism, or cancer, or depression, or homelessness.

Have you ever felt like an invisible person?

In “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris,” Ada Harris is a very capable cleaning woman who sees a Christian Dior gown in the closet of one of the women she cleans for and falls in love. The very basic plot is that she leverages everything she owns to buy a plane ticket to Paris so she can visit the House of Dior and buy one. She is immediately marginalized (she looks poor) and denied access to make her purchase, but after throwing her wad of cash on the table, the gatekeepers let her in. Spoiler alert! In the end, she gets her dress and lives “happily ever after”. Well, as happy as someone can be whose dream is to own a beautiful dress (even though she has nowhere to wear it).

There is an important dialogue at a pivotal moment in the story when Mrs. Harris tells her good friend, Violet, “We are the invisible women.” She implies that because she is older, not particularly beautiful, and not relevant to their particular cultural moment, she is invisible. (This is a sad commentary not only of older women, but of the many ‘worker bees’ that populate our society.) What made the movie so powerful was even though Mrs. Harris felt invisible, she made a very significant difference in the lives of her friends. And not only her friends, but the people she interacted with in every aspect of her life. This was the real heart of the story: her selfless kindness and care changed people’s lives for the better.

I would venture to guess that all of us want to be seen. But not only seen, we want to be accepted. Need I say loved? We are lucky if we can count on one hand the people who see us as we really are and accept and love us anyway. Some of us don’t even have that. We have a cat. Or a canary. Or worse, a job that serves as our identity. Or to be vulgar, we have a dress we put on to dance in so that we can get attention. I was that girl once. And maybe that is why I can relate to Mrs. Harris. I too, have felt invisible.

I’ve been listening to a song by Stephen Curtis Chapman in recent weeks as some deep griefs have washed over me. In The Glorious Unfolding he says,

“God’s plan from the start for this world and your heart have been to show His glory and his grace. Forever revealing the depth and the beauty of His unfailing love. So, hold onto every promise God has made to us and watch this glorious unfolding.”

I’ve been meditating quite a bit on how the Psalms speak so regularly of God’s steadfast love for us. He doesn’t love like we love–on a whim, or passionately for a time–until he gets sick of us. “His steadfast love endures forever.” And unlike the letters I used to write to my school friends, His love is not ‘sealed with a kiss’. His promises are ‘sealed’ with the very blood of His son, Jesus.

I don’t always feel this love. In fact, I often don’t feel anything at all but sadness and loneliness. Those are the times I feel like I’m a broken Christian. Shouldn’t I be bubbling and overflowing with God’s love for me all the time? Alas, I do not. But I have come to discover the treasure trove of God’s love in His word. The thing is, God never lies. His promises are always true. And if His word says, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever”, (Psalm 136:1) then I know that I should (give thanks) because it (His steadfast love) does (endure forever).

On Stephen Curtis Chapman’s most recent CD there is a song called, “Kindness”. I love it. He asks the question, “And what if we lived with a heart of kindness? What if we loved like we’ve been loved?” Because if we truly know and understand the steadfast love of the Lord, whose mercies are new every morning, shouldn’t we love other people the same way?

To my reckoning, there are no invisible people in God’s eyes.

I recently had the pleasure to give a glass of ice water to one of my neighbors. Ervin is an 84-year-old man who lives down the street. We met because he was walking around the block with a rollator but had to stop under my shade tree to rest. He told me he is trying to build his strength because he feels like he’s ‘wasting away’. I think that’s just another way of saying, “I feel invisible.” I found out he is a follower of Jesus, and we had a very candid conversation. I told him sometimes I pray, and I don’t feel God, I feel like there’s a wall. He said, “You are a very honest person.” And then he paused before he said, “God’s promises are true. You can trust them.” I told Ervin I was thankful God sent him to my house when I really needed a friend. God reminded me I am not invisible either. He sees. He knows. He loves.

Dear Reader, if you feel like an invisible person, take heart! You are seen by the Creator of the universe. He is reaching out His hand of love to you. You can trust Him. And on the days when you feel the most abandoned, the most alone, the most unseen of all people – go out and “see” someone else. Talk to the man at the gas station behind the register. Stand on your front porch and talk to those boys walking down the street. Tell a stranger they are beautiful. Let them know they are seen.