Count Them
Thursday, March 4th, 2010
What Would Aslan Do
Imagine the possibilities.
You have ten people, randomly chosen from anywhere, everywhere in the world.
It’s the scene from The Magician’s Nephew.You’re in an ancient, crumbling building, with large, tomb-like columns; a large hallway leads your curious cat-mind into a chamber of echoes, tall, distant ceilings, and a faint, flat light.
The ten people stand before you. Still as statues. Yet life-like; eerily poised;
Their expressions are surprisingly vivid, and their eyes are pools of thought. You can look and peer into them, and discover their most intimate emotions:
; what it felt like for them to climb a tree in crisp, fall weather; their callouses rubbing against the bark, the smell of leaves as they crackle and crumble; the strength of their grip as they reached for the skies;
; the smell of their dusty luggage;
; the texture and pull when they’re combing their hair;
; how the person they admire makes them feel when they approach each other, cautiously– in an empty hallway;
; the turmoil of their first kiss;
; how it feels when they smile;
; the depths of their thoughts when they become keen of their mortality;
And you realize how similar everyone is, how the boundaries of individuality are gently erased by the smallest, most humane moments (the catch in your throat as you step out into a windy day), and that nothing in between is formidable enough to remind us of our collective humanity.
Imagine the possibilities of someone else’s life. The knots in their stomach, or their greatest happiness swelling in their chest. Is it so hard to forgive anyone? It’s not so hard as it seems.
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