Sonder and Serving

One of my best friends is extremely intelligent. He finds joy in many things one of which being the written word. A while ago he introduced me to a word: Sonder.  Sonder is the term used for the following definition-" the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own" Basically what this means is we need to realize that those around us have a body with a mind that has its own thought processes, emotions, and each person has their own lives that they are living with their own points of views, families, problems, etc... I love this word, but I would always get frusturated with my friend when I would start to vent about someone I disliked or had a problem with and all he would say was "sonder." Reminding me that there are people with lives and worries outside of my own (for the record, he was right to do so... but because I am still human it still frustrated me!)

This word was brought to mind and helped me ponder what I learned about in class this week. In John 12 Jesus is abiding in Martha, Mary, and Lazarus's home. While waiting for dinner Mary appears and uses a pound of ointment of spikenard and uses it to anoint the feet of Jesus. She then proceeds to wipe the oil off of His feet with the hairs of her head. At this act of service Judas Iscariot, a disciple, points out that this oil is very costly; 300 pence, and the money for this oil could've been used to help the poor. The math done in class for this story was that 300 pence during this time was equivalent to 40,000 dollars today! So yes, this oil was costly, and yes, this money could've been used for many other things. Regardless of this Christ gets after Judas and says in 12:7 "Let her alone, against the day of my burying hath she kept this" So the Savior defended this young woman for the service she did, she didn't side with Judas even though he had a point.

Sometimes we judge those around us based on their actions. Different people serve in different ways. But for some reason we expect others to serve as we would. In other instances we see people serving and are quick to judge with reality. For example, someone may give all they have to a less fortunate person but in consequence for this may not have the funds to support themselves. We as realistic humans may look at this and judge it as irrational, dumb, or silly. However, the Savior doesn't want us to do this. He is the ultimate judge of people and their actions. If people are willing to serve who are we to condone them? Like the word "sounder" states, we need to realize that people are living separate lives from us, which means they may have different ways of serving Christ. But it is not our place to judge others. Instead, we should be willing to support those who are willing to serve. Our Savior will not condemn someone for serving Him, and we shouldn't either.