Going Down

Human behavior on an elevator is quite predictable, if not amusing. Since living on the 7th floor, I have had time each day to observe it. First of all, we don’t have much patience. As soon as we enter, we hit the button to close the door. Why does five seconds feel like an eternity in an elevator? Moreover, you should see how many times we push the button while waiting on the elevator to arrive in the first place! We are seemingly convinced the elevator is ignoring us. Perhaps we fear rejection.

Also, we do not like being forced into closed spaces with strangers. We try to position ourselves as far as possible away from others. To avoid eye contact, we all face the door and watch the numbers go down. If the elevator stops short of our intended destination, we become visibly uncomfortable and annoyed. We hate interruptions. Perhaps we fear the unknown or that which we can’t control.

Others must think me strange here for looking around and observing elevator psyche. I really broke a cardinal rule since, this week, I have made it a point to say “hello” to others in the elevator. It seems jarring to most, as they are accustomed to silence. I made one poor old woman jump.

It’s just…something in me has been wondering if, by passively wasting opportunities on an elevator to share a friendly smile, a simple hello, or a helping hand, we are willingly forsaking the wisdom of saints like Mother Theresa: “We can do no great things; only small things with great love.”

…

It is a real temptation to view my time here like a simple elevator ride. I know I won’t be here forever, as my initial contract is only for a year. So, I could see my season here as a passing one—a transient ride from the last destination to the next one.

The problem becomes, if I am simply going down the elevator, everything else will go down too. My passion will go down. My commitment will go down. My love will go down. And I will just be counting down the days. We all acknowledge (and rebuke) this kind of emotional roller coaster when we say things like: “To keep from feeling down, we must keep our spirits up!”

A dear friend once told me: “If you go somewhere, be there.” I was reminded of that again when I read Psalm 139, concerning the presence of the Lord: “If I go up to heavens, you are there. If I go down to the grave, you are there.” It seems the Lord never wastes a season in making Himself known.

As Fritz Ridenour writes, in his book How to Be a Christian without Being Religious, “Religions reach up toward God. Christianity is God reaching down to man.” Greater by the day, I also don’t want to waste this season of reaching out to others.

This past month has been difficult at our hakwon (academy). We have watched one-third of our enrollment leave English Village for other after-school academies. The reasons are unclear to me, making it more difficult at times. I do know that trust is at a premium in Korean society, and we just opened eight months ago. One “wrong move,” as you experience a mass exodus. When trust goes down, numbers go down.

It has made me reflect on my commitment and how I am using each day to share the love of Jesus with the students. There have been several students suddenly leave now without a chance at saying goodbye. As they go, I hope they are blessed. If nothing else, I pray they experienced relationship with a teacher who tries to display his friendship with God.

So as it stands: I don’t desire to just go through the motions. I want to be here, for however long the Lord has me here. Every day, on that elevator, I hope to bring a little light when the door opens to my Korean neighbors, and I genuinely ask: “Going down?”