Everyone has at least one detail about them- one missing piece of the puzzle. One clue, one secret, one aspect of their life. That if you knew that one thing, it would make ALL the difference.

And how often do we take the time to stop and consider that people are more than meets the eye? That people are the composite of all those details- overt and subtle, big and small- details when viewed as the entire package, make a person unique and whole?

And so I did just that.

I took the time, a day or so ago, to notice. Took time to show an interest. To listen. To ask. To really feel what it might be like to be this person. I felt it, even if for just a moment. I was quiet. I spoke when necessary. I heard. And I came to realize: Unless I stop and truly see, truly listen, truly understand, those details go unnoticed. And it’s the details that make all the difference. A spotlight on the details helps to clarify and shine light on dark corners of the soul.

Everyone has at least one detail about them that if you knew it, it just might help you tolerate them, like them, love them, understand them more. It just might make the difference between writing that person off and giving them a second chance. It just might make the difference between forming a positive opinion as opposed to making a negative one. It might make the difference between acceptance and rejection.

And you never know. Looking for the beauty- the humanity in the little things (in that which is small and hidden deep inside, which we all carry around within us each and every day), just might make us more aware that those details EXIST. Just might make all the difference for us in understanding the bigger stuff that everyone sees about that person we ‘just don’t GET’. Sometimes we THINK we understand, just because things are obvious and visible.

It is often what is hidden that truly reveals the condition of our soul.

Truth: we all deserve a sober, second thought from one another. And we all need to be understood by each other, at some level or another. And even if we never choose to share that which is deeply kept within the confines of our private person, we can still offer kindness and compassion to our brother. To our sister. To the children. To those we understand and even by times, to those we don’t.

We can still offer grace (it’s been offered to us…). And sometimes that grace cracks open the door to understanding more.