Scripture: Numbers 20:1 – “The Israelites, the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh. Miriam died there and was buried there.” (NRSVue)
Everyone is the hero of their own story. No one thinks of themselves as the villain, the sidekick, or the less-than-attractive best friend. These are stock characters in fiction, but life is not fiction and people are more complicated than their roles in a plot.
But while we see ourselves as the heroes of our own stories, that is not the way we treat other people. In the world of gaming, there is something called a non-player character, or NPC. These are characters in the story that are not controlled by the player and often have extremely limited roles, having only a few bits of dialogue and fulfilling a very specific purpose, like giving the heroes a single piece of information. Current slang uses the term NPC to refer to people in real life that take on this role for us. The server at our favorite restaurant is an NPC. The customer service representative is an NPC. The trash collector is an NPC. The little old lady crossing the street is an NPC. In this way of thinking, other people exist only to advance our lives and are instrumental when useful and ignored when they are not.
In history, it is women who were often relegated to NPC status, to the roles of mother or beloved rather than as full human beings with their own hopes and dreams. This is true throughout the Bible, where many woman characters are not even given names. Even some of the most important ones lack details about them. Take, for example, Miriam. She is generally defined as the sister of Moses, but she is more than that. She is the one that follows the baby Moses in the basket and makes sure he is brought into the household of the pharaoh. She is called a prophet and leads the celebration after the escape from the Egyptians at the Red Sea. And she is clearly a leader in the community, sometimes butting heads with Moses. However, when Miriam and her brother Aaron spoke out against Moses, God was angry at both of them, but only Miriam was struck with a potentially deadly disease.
Eventually, Aaron, Miriam, and Moses all pass away. Moses is treated with an entire book, Deuteronomy, about his final teachings and last days. Aaron is given a paragraph of eight verses. Miriam is given one sentence in half of a verse. You get the sense that “Oh yeah, Miriam died, too.” This hero and prophet of God had been reduced to a footnote in someone else’s story.
We are the heroes of our own stories, but we are also NPCs in the stories of others. And sometimes we end up as footnotes in history. We are the mentor, the ex, even the anonymous stranger who showed kindness. And this may not be so bad. Because a footnote is still important enough to mention. And God loves us for who we are in our own stories and is especially pleased when serve in ways large and small in the stories of others. In your daily life, do not treat others as NPCs; remember that they are the heroes of their own stories and worthy of dignity. Live your heroic life to the fullest, but also show compassion to be of service to others.
Prayer: Lord, give me the confidence to recognize my worth and the humility to see the greater purpose of your plan for us all. Amen.
Comments