“… there are eight souls on board.” Once in a while (in the Air Force) we would get an alert on the flight line that a plane was coming in on emergency. We were given certain details about the flight that always included the number of souls on the plane.

I have often thought about those times. Most of them turned out okay. The people on the aircraft represented different ranks, race, sex, and social status, but facing the possibility of death they were all simply souls.

Even though Peter had walked with Jesus it was long after the resurrection when he finally learned that God is no respecter of persons. How long did it take us to learn that truth, or have we not figured it out yet? Arrogance is perhaps the ugliest of all demons.

It is okay to be special as long as we understand that our neighbor is just as special. No one is better than another; neither is anyone less than the other. We are all made from the same clay, and received the same breath from God. It is his breath, and not anything that we have done, that numbered us among the living souls.

The Bible instructs us to “Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.” (Romans 12:16)

The world may not accept this standard of life, but it is a sure sign that we have accepted the Way of Christ.