As a child, I would look out the window on road trips and wonder where each person in the traffic jam was going. Would the family in the red minivan be on the same beach we were headed to? Was the kid in the backseat of the silver sedan listening to the same song I had playing on my iPod? It wasn't until my later teenage years that I discovered there is a word for that thought process: sonder.
Sonder, according to the dictionary, is the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own. Sounds like something you'd see on Pinterest, doesn't it? Read it again. Everyone has a life as vivid and complex as your own. Well, of course they do! But have you ever really thought about it?
The person in front of you at a traffic light is living a life as vivid and complex as your own. So is the person behind you at the coffee shop. What's more, the person you see on Instagram who lives 1,000 miles away also has a "real life," and so does the person modeling the latest styles in the advertisement.
Let's take it a step further. The generations before you also had lives as vivid and complex as your own. Your parents, grandparents, and even great-grandparents lived and are living lives. The people you read about in textbooks, from the American Revolution all the way to the Vietnam War, lived vivid and complex lives. They may not have had the same technology, education opportunities, or amenities we have in 2020, but they still lived the day-to-day just as we are right now.
I think it's fascinating to apply this to the people we read about in the Bible. These were real people with real lives, real families, real jobs. They ate real food and felt real feelings. You remember the disciples who left everything they had behind to follow Jesus? Yeah, they had vivid and complex lives, too. When you think about it that way, those stories become that much more relatable and applicable to our lives.
The next time you read a story in the Bible, whether it's a well-known passage or a hidden gem, try to picture the characters as real people. Make a list of things you had in common with them and ask God to show you how you can apply their story to your life. After all, it's just as vivid and complex as your own.
xoxo, Erin
P.S. - If you're ever in Denver, CO, check out Sonder Coffee & Tea... you won't regret it.
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