Capable of the Greatest Horrors and the Greatest Goodness

I read a quote the other day in one of my classes that spoke to me. It came from C.S. Lewis, the author of the Chronicles of Narnia book series, from his book Weight of Glory:

"It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror or a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal."

This quote struck me for two reasons:
1. No man or woman is immune to the possibility of a fall greater than even they could imagine.
2. Every person I meet has the potential to be used by God, regardless of how I may view them now.

Some people are raised in a culture where prison is a very real possibility for their future. I was not. I never imagined coming to prison. I had plans for my life, great plans. I was proud of myself and my accomplishments, and I had a future laid out for myself. I certainly didn't view myself as "ordinary." But I made choices that derailed my "great" plans, and now I sit in prison finding it difficult to imagine much of a future at all, let alone a great future. I never envisioned myself falling to these depths.

It is easier to envision in other people their potential for horror or corruption. It is safer than imagining myself capable of harming anyone. Even uninteresting people whom I don't think of as capable of corruption I often find difficult imagining as capable of greatness. Yet, God is not a respecter of persons. He uses people that most of us would overlook.

This leveling of the playing field humbles my view of myself and also helps me see others as carrying the dignity of God's image. It compels me to awaken others to the possibilities God has planted inside each of them. And as I waken to the value of others around me, I begin to discover for myself a possible future that was perfectly modeled by Jesus: The greatest work one can do is in spending oneself for others.