Ugh. Oh, Beauty! Ahhhh...
"This is 137th street!"
I watched ER, my absolute favorite show, last week. On the show, Gallant comes home from serving in Iraq and proposes to Neela on the train on the way to work. They embrace, her head cradled in his arms. And you can just hear all the homes in America go "Ahhhhhh."
Well tonight, I grab my bag of Chinese food from "Ollies" and head out into the cold. Luckily, I only have to walk across the street before the subway shelters me from the near freezing, about to snow weather. I slide my Metrocard and slip though the turnstile. When I reach the platform and the train is coming. "Great!" I think.
It's been a long day with homework early in the morning, work in the afternoon, class in the evening, library studies after class... Now, I'm running home to get more work done during crunch-week (the last week of the semester). I'm tired, I'm cold and I'm not thinking about Christmas... or anything else nice.
I take my seat on the train and look up and...
ugh...
I keep my eyes down. Stare at my lap, then the floor, then I glance up at the goateed guy across the ailse. He slouches in his seat with athletic jacket and hooded sweatshirt pulled up over his head. He stares blankly at the ground... annoyed.
In the center of the car. Right in front of both of us. A young couple stands with locked arms and locked lips as they vacuum the other's insides clean. They kiss for two subway stops. They giggled in between kisses and never let go.
"This is 137th street!" The loud speaker cut the silence. They continue to lock lips, then one looks up and realizes their about to miss their stop. They rush off the train... and the whole car exhales.
When I come up from the subway it's snowing outside and it's beautiful. I'm reminded - "Oh, that's right! It's Christmas season!"
It's funny how we can get so into our selves that we forget the season. We forget there's something to be thankful for. We forget to appreciate beauty.
It's easy to appreciate Neela and Gallant's kiss on the subway in Chicago. It was lit perfectly and staged beautifully. It was all romance and on T.V. And I sat down and chose to watch it. And it's just funny to me now that I couldn't appreciate the beauty when it was 1/2 a foot from me... in person. Instead, it was -- ugh!
I round the corner onto my street. It's starting to snow harder now. I look up and Christmas lights, wrapped around a bicycle wheel, form the shape of a peace-sign and float overhead attached to the fire escape across the street. It is Christmas and they've got the right idea.
I push the doors to my building open and enter the looby where Mr. Senge, a chunky, middle-aged Trinidadian man, guards the door while playing Solitaire. He cracks me up every night. I walk in and give a quick shout out, "Hi!". He says "Yeah, okay!" then turns back to his card game. In the background, is always the most unexpected music. One time it was Jon Mayer. Another time it was Jessica Simpson. Once it was the Backstreet Boys. He sit's playing Solitaire while mouthing the words.
Tonight when I walk in, Mr. Senge is listening to Christmas music by Lawrence Welk.
Shalom.
May you take in the reason for this season and the beauty of God's world.
posted by Lisa Sharon Harper @ 11:48 PM
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