When I was a child, I spent a lot of time with my grandmother. She was retired and both of my parents worked so my grandmother spent most of her days taking care of my sister and me. My grandmother was an avid walker and one of her favorite places to walk was a nearby mall. There were many days when we would accompany her to this mall while she got her steps in. My sister and I had zero interest in walking for sport and instead opted to roam the mall looking at toys, playing in the play place, and getting into mostly innocent mischief.
I remember one day, we were wandering around in JC Penny hiding in the clothing racks, riding the escalator, and critiquing the style of the mannequins. At some point in all of this, we noticed a particular mannequin that caught our eye. This mannequin was dressed slightly differently than the others and she was holding a bottle of Mountain Dew and a bag of Funyuns. I was probably about six years old putting these props right around my eye level. I was intrigued. I had never seen a mannequin with such attention to detail.
We approached the mannequin and were surprised to find out that the Mountain Dew and Funyuns were real. Shout out to the stylist for going all in to make this mannequin look the part. I tapped on the Mountain Dew bottle and noticed the liquid inside swaying back and forth. I squeezed the bag of Funyuns because I had to know if these were props or the genuine article. As I discovered, both were in fact the real thing.
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That’s when it happened. In the midst of my investigation, I noticed a slight movement in the arm of the mannequin. That was weird. I slowly lifted my eyes from the prop snacks to identify what had caused this movement. That’s when I realized that this mannequin was staring down at me with an air of annoyance. It took me a moment but I finally realized, this was no mannequin. This was a real-life person and I had just smashed some of their Funyuns. My sister and I realized what we had done and we ran away as fast as we could, sped through the mall, found the Burger King play place, and hid in the ball pit (because those were still a thing).
That day, I learned to pay closer attention and that most mannequins don’t carry real snacks. As kids, we miss people pretty regularly. We see the world differently and our view is limited to a very narrow area that contains little more than ourselves. This is a natural part of growing up and discovering that the world is bigger than we are. The problem for many is that this view can continue well past childhood. While the number of humans I have mistaken for a mannequin remains at one, I still miss people on a regular basis. I overlook their needs, their stories, and their value. I overlook the fact that they have their own journey and a part to play in this world. I can get so focused on my own needs and desires that I can often relegate others to supporting roles in a story that stars me. (Cue my theme music.)
There is a hard truth in here for me. I am not the star of this show. The world doesn’t revolve around me and it isn’t about me. It’s about the creator and the mission to restore His creation to what it was designed to be. In order to take part in that mission we have to love, serve, and care for one another. We have to point others toward Jesus and help them live the life to which He has called them. In order to do that, we have to see others. We need to see them for who they truly are, not as lifeless props or extras in our lives.
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Have you ever missed someone who was right in front of you? Have you overlooked another person whose life you could have impacted in a positive way? I know I certainly have. While I haven’t mistaken someone for a mannequin since that day I’ve definitely looked past people’s needs to protect my own comfort. Jesus’s words in Matthew 25 encourage us to see and serve others. He wraps up this encouragement by saying, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” We are called to see others with love and compassion just as Jesus does.
Every person we encounter has value and significance. Jesus calls us to care for them as an expression of our faith in Him and our love for God. By seeing others as valuable and worthy of our attention and care, we can reflect the heart of Jesus and participate in His mission to restore and reconcile all of creation to God’s design. Who have you been missing? Who has God placed in your life that you need to see? What can you do to serve them and show them that they matter? Let’s be people who see and love others and who point them toward the God who truly sees them.
Our stories are what shape us and reveal our purpose. Even when a child thinks a full-grown human is a mannequin! I wrote a book called “Magic in the Mug” about this very subject. It’s filled with such stories and is all about how those stories can help us discover a life of purpose. I’d love your help getting this book out into the world! Click Here to find out more and help make this dream a reality!
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