value of a life

tonight i watched a man lay in the street bleeding.  wheel chair on it's side.  medical supplies and beer can strewn about.  and i thought about this man's life.  i thought about the fact that he is someone's son. maybe he was someone's life.  he is a man that was created and formed perfectly and intentionally, with a purpose; with a plan.

maybe it's because of the new year.  maybe it's because i've been looking at life and reflecting on where i've been and where i want to be.  but all i could think about as i watched him from the rearview was who this man was; who he is.  this life.  this journey. in so many ways we're all the same. where we've come from. where we're going. there are the forks in the road that change us, that mold us, that shake us, that we never fully recover from. there are the ones that make us want to just forget where we are or what we're doing.  so many times there is pain and brokenness that is so hard to carry, it's easier to just lose our way.

i don't know his story, but that man that people walked past and stepped around tonight is another person just like you and me. someone living out the exact same days on this earth as i'm living out mine. his life is of so much value and so much worth.  yet he seems to have no idea of all that he was created for, as he throws it all away.