I’m thinking of a woman I passed on my way into the grocery store with an aggressively bad side shave – I’ve seen the look before, it’s usually a kind of buzzed or shaved rectangle over one ear with the rest of the hair left long.

In the case of the woman I saw, it was more of a trapezoid, and both the lines that were against the rest of her hair were jaggedly uneven. I only saw her for a moment, long enough to register the haircut, really, and then continued into the store as she headed for the parking lot.

I saw her for long enough to notice that besides the bad haircut, she was well put together, and dressed appropriately for the weather. It wasn’t like she was publicly falling apart, she just had that haircut.

When I got home, I was still thinking about it. Usually when you see someone who is “off” in public, it’s in a different way. They might be yelling, have poor hygeine, or behave erratically, or drive badly, or whatever… but this lady was just quietly going about her business, with a bad haircut.

I was thinking about why she might have the hair – a student hairdresser, a moment of frustration that a buzzer over the bathroom sink had relieved. And I realized – we are all struggling right now. I had a rush of compassion for this woman who didn’t ask for my sentiments and didn’t look like she needed them.

At this point in the pandemic, the chronic stress of this world is peeling – some days, grating – off our layers. For some of us, it’s layers of civility that cover a scabby, wounded interior. It has revealed ugliness and selfishness. For others, the walls we built up to protect ourselves have been worn down until we are vulnerable and open-hearted again. Depending on the day for any one us, maybe the peeling’s revealed a bit of both.

Have you thought about what the pandemic has shown you about yourself and how you view your community? Your local community, your spiritual community, your global community? Do you remember that those smaller communities are part of the big one all humans are in together? Have you thought about the pandemic in relation to whatever part you are in the Body of Christ?

There are different ways of working, but the same God works all things in all people.

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, …. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, who apportions them to each one as He determines.

The body is a unit, though it is composed of many parts. And although its parts are many, they all form one body. So it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free, and we were all given one Spirit to drink.

For the body does not consist of one part, but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?

But in fact, God has arranged the members of the body, every one of them, according to His design. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. (from 1 Corinthians 12)

When I thought about the woman I saw at the grocery store as part of the same body that I’m part of – I felt a kinship with her.

We are all hanging on by a thread. We are frequently reminded of the fragility of our lives, our society, even democracy. In the face of all that, it’s hard to keep up the veneer of normalcy. The usual ways we pretend we’re OK to one another are crumbling.

It helps me to remind myself of our greater community. On my best days, I want to be rooting for all of us. I want to root for our wellbeing, our spiritual and emotional health, the provision of our needs.

How are you doing as a citizen of humanity?

Did you take the time to read the whole scripture above? I know it’s long. One of the things that caught my attention was “…to another faith by the same Spirit…” from which I read not everyone gets the gift of faith. That’s definitely food for thought. What part stood out to you?