People--in a Personal Way

We sometimes look upon people and their problems impersonally. In a world of so many millions of men, people—that is other people—tend to become—statistics—population per square mile, prospects for our products, customers, clients for our services, votes for our political parties, patrons for our performances.

But we can’t separate a man from himself, and we can’t reasonably forget the fact that each man has rights and hopes and a heart and personal possibilities. There is no such thing as an impersonal person, and one thing we can least afford to lose in our modern manner is personal attitude toward people. The mass must not let us lose sight of the individual man. Bigness must not let us lose sight of human qualities and character. Numbers must not replace names. Statistics must not take form us a sincere individual interest in others.

These passengers who push their way in with us; these drivers who impatiently honk horns in traffic tangles; these who crowd to the counter, who buy things, who need things, who want things; these millions who live in the missions of homes, the inside of which we never see; these who crowd the classrooms, the hospitals, the public places; and all these others whom we read about remotely—all are people in a very personal way, people with hopes and heartaches and sorrows and successes.

All are eternal, individual, important personalities; all are children of Him who is the Father of us all, who gave us life, who has set before us opportunities for endless progress and possibilities. That child, that boy, that girl, the mother, the mature and able man, the sick, the sorrowing, the aged and infirm—each one is a person; and the sooner all of us know that everyone else is a personal person (and the sooner we act as if we knew it), the sooner we shall have a happier earth, and perhaps a glimpse of heaven.