Pop Quiz

So much of what we have depends on people we've never met. As we enter a season of gratitude and gifts (if you want some great ideas on what this can look like, check out Marcus' article on Advent and Creative giving), it's worth stopping to ask ourselves, "Whose hands are responsible for the food I eat, for the gifts I am buying, or even for the clean floors I walk on every day?"

I find that, as I try to be more aware of the people behind even the small things in my life, I grow increasingly grateful for the community God has built into our lives. Gratitude is a function of love, and like love, it only grows as we extend it to others.

Want to hear more? You can find this and dozens of other videos over at the High Calling YouTube Channel.

TRANSCRIPT: Near the end of his final semester, a college senior named Skip walked into business class and received a pop quiz. Skip was a brilliant student and breezed through every question—until the last one: What is the name of the woman who cleans this building? This must be a joke, Skip thought. He had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was short, dark, looked old. Why in the world would he know her name? He handed back the quiz with that answer blank.
This is Howard Butt, Jr., of Laity Lodge. Do you ever treat people as if they're invisible? In the tests of real life, every person deserves our attention and respect, even if all we do is learn her name and say hello—in the high calling of our daily work.
"Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know."
(1 Cor. 8:1b-2)