Treat everyone you meet with dignity. 1 Peter 2:17 (MSG)
A duffle coat, a hard stare, marmalade sandwiches, darkest Peru. You have guessed the connection. Michael Bond’s marmalade-sandwich-loving Peruvian bear first sauntered onto the page in 1958’s A Bear Called Paddington. Paddington’s address – 32 Windsor Gardens in Notting Hill – does not exist in real life. Author Michael Bond amalgamated his parents’ address at Winser Drive, Reading, with his own in Arundel Gardens. Tourists who descend upon the real-life Windsor Gardens in west London are often disappointed to find a street of council flats and no number 32.
Before his fictional version appeared on page, Paddington existed as a real teddy bear. Bond saw it “left on a shelf in a London shop and felt sorry for it” on Christmas Eve 1956, and took it home as a present for his wife Brenda. The couple were living near Paddington Station at the time, so Bond named the bear Paddington and started to write stories about it.
Michael Bond says that the inspiration for Paddington came from seeing Jewish evacuee children pass through Reading Station from London during the Kindertransport of the late 30s. They all had a label round their neck, he says, with their name and address on and a little case or package containing all their treasured possessions. And so Paddington, in his blue duffle coat and red hat, has a sign round his neck from his relatives back in darkest Peru with a simple request: “Please look after this bear. Thank you.” Why is Paddington so popular? Nestled deep in our hearts is the longing for a home full of love, understanding and stability. We all wear an invisible label that says, “Please look after this bear. Thank you.” We were created with love, to give love and receive love. The Bible insistently tells us to love others, accept them, treat them fairly and honourably. However, we are all too quick to put a label on people. Don’t label people; love them.
Jesus did not categorise, stereotype or slap a label on those He encountered. He loved them and treated each one with dignity: the woman at the well, the woman taken in adultery, Nicodemus, even Judas and Peter. We are to do the same. Peter tells us, “Treat everyone you meet with dignity.” Everyone. How do we do that? We remember that all are made in the image of God, His creation. Showing honour and respect doesn’t mean we embrace or endorse what they do or even what they believe, but we respect the individual as a creation of God. God isn’t finished with any of us, is He? Let’s not forget the grace we have been shown.
We cannot love others like Christ… without Christ.
We love each other because he loved us first. 1 John 4:19 (NLT)
So represent Him well today treating everyone you meet with dignity. See them only with the label, “Please look after this person. Thank you.”