"Dear Occupant" World

Have you ever recieved mail addressed "Dear Occupant".  It's an interesting combintion of words.  "Dear" is personal and intimate.  "Occupant" is anything but personal.  "Occupant" is generic.  Anyone and everyone is an occupant.  There are many times when it feels as though we live in a "Dear Occupant World".  We long for intimacy and connections, something personal, but feel as though we are just an occupant, a number or statistic.  When I was younger, I vowed that I would never memorize my social security number.  I didn't want to become an occupant.  Of course, I can now rattle off my number.  In fact, my number is a stronger identifier than my name in most situations.  I access most of my information and accounts by my number.  I am a "Dear Occupant".

As a person of faith, one of the things I love about the Gospel is that Jesus never reduces people to "Dear Occupant".  Again and again, he recognizes and afffirms the person.  Jesus sees Zacchaeus in the tree, Levi sitting at the tax collector table, the Samaritan woman at the well, Peter, James and John in their fishing boats, the leper by the side of the road, the woman who touches the hem of his robe, the criminal hanging next to him on the cross, and Mary Magdalene in the garden at Easter.  With Jesus, it is never "Dear Occupant".  I find the image powerful in the living of my faith and life.  Grace is always directed personally.  It is not "Dear Occupant", but "Dear Mark".  This is true for every indivitual.  I find that to be Good News in this "Dear Occupant World".