The people Jesus loved

I get a daily email from something called inward/outward. They are daily writings/thoughts from people about their faith, God, Jesus, etc. This one hit me hard this morning. I just thought I'd share it. I must admit, when I run into some people out at Wal-mart, the gas station, etc, I can be so uptight. I forget that Jesus loves them so much! I pray to have a more passionate heart for these. That's what Jesus does.

The people Jesus loved were shopping at the Star Market yesterday.An old lead-colored man standing next to me at the checkout breathed so heavily I had to step back a few steps.Even after his bags were packed he still stood, breathing hard and hawking into his hand. The feeble, the lame, I could hardly look at them:shuffling through the aisles, they smelled of decay, as if the Star Market had declared a day off for the able-bodied, and I had wandered in with the rest of them: sour milk, bad meat:looking for cereal and spring water. Jesus must have been a saint, I said to myself, looking for my lost car in the parking lot later, stumbling among the people who would have been lowered into rooms by ropes, who would have crept out of caves or crawled from the corners of public baths on their hands and knees begging for mercy.If I touch only the hem of his garment, one woman thought, I will be healed.Could I bear the look on his face when he wheels around?