Drops Like Stars.

"Imagine being at a public event like a movie or game or play or religious service and before it starts, someone says to the crowd, "Please stand if you've ever been affected by cancer"

What would you feel? Compassion? Empathy? Solidarity? Connection? Love?

A setting of strangers and yet you mention cancer- a specific suffering- and there's instantly a bond.

If someone said,

"Please stand... if you've been to Hawaii" or
"Please stand... if you've had to fire your interior decorator" or
"Please stand... if you drive a station wagon"

It just wouldnt have the same effect, would it?

But suffering, suffering unites."

-Rob Bell "Drops Like Stars"

I love this, because it is so true.

First semester of my junior year I went to Leadership Retreat and the man who led it, Phil Boyt, asked us to play this game called "Cross the Line". In this game, Phil would ask a question and we had three answer options: Yes, No, or I dont want to answer. If the answer was yes we would cross the line... you get the idea.

The questions would start out "Cross the line if you do well in school" to "Cross the line if you are embarrassed to be your brother or sisters sibling" to "Cross the line if you have ever contemplated suicide" to "Cross the line if you have lost a parent to Cancer" to "cross the line if you've ever been sent to jail"... and the list goes on.

The questions went from surface level, to intimate, personal, deep questions.

our group went from 200 high school students who had known each other for years on a surface level, to a group of 200 high school students who were beginning to see into the lives of their classmates. People crossed the line on questions that i would never have expected.

But in that moment, I was given the opportunity to relate to my peers and see their hearts without saying a word, without passing any judgement.

Makes you wonder... what do you see in the garbage truck man? or the teen mom that lives next door? or the CEO of your company? or your Pastor? or the lunch lady? or your Professor?

...A million stories are waiting to be told. How would you react? and Who would you connect with along the way?

Suffering unites us.