I used to look at a crowd of strangers and see them all as beautiful creations of God. I saw good in all of them, even those with stories of evil and deceit. Perhaps I thought I was immune to that evil, and that I had magnetic energy to attract and pull forth the good. I know I believed that good would always find its way to the surface and then dominate. I believe it so absolutely and wanted to be witness to its victory.
Now I look at a crowd of strangers and I see the cancer in their souls. I see them as if under infrared lighting that magnifies the growing rot beneath the clever chatter and fine attire. I know now that I am vulnerable, that their evil can penetrate me, destroy me. Their smiles are nothing but thin veils, their disguises revealed to me now. I see through them and terror thrusts me back, away, running for refuge.
