Lives aren't books and people aren't covers

I had an eye opening and sobering experience today. I was in a hospital and as I headed to the room I was intending to visit I was overwhelmed with compassion for the young man and at the same time flooded with thoughts of what lies behind each of the doors in that passageway. Hall upon hall, floor upon floor. Rooms full of people who are fighting in some way to some degree. Children, babies, mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, wives and husbands all of vital importance to God.
I have spent many hours now thinking about this and how often we judge people. The old saying is that we shouldn't judge a book by its cover but it occurred to me that lives aren't books and people are not covers. Yet we judge people everyday in every walk of life. The idiot driver who must be crazy. The grocery store clerk who doesn't even look up to acknowledge you other than to ask for the money. The mother whose child is running wild in the store. The list goes on and on and we can all call to mind innumerable examples with minimal effort.
What about the underlying condition of their lives? What about the circumstances regarding their day? What about the challenges they are facing right now? Do we ever give thought to those things? Sure we occasionally give people the benefit of the doubt and may surmise that they are having a bad day. But how often do we just get agitated by people who do something inexplicable to us without first considering outlying issues that may be the root of the problem.
Back to the hospital...I saw one person who seemed fit as a fiddle but 2 days prior was told he should be dead and that it was only by the grace of God that he was alive at all. I noticed next door a door riddled with signs announcing what you had to do prior to entering the room--wash hands, put on gloves, wear the proper gown, iv warnings, no fluid beyond a certain limit, and several other cautionary signs that would seem to indicate something going on behind that door that was...well, less than desirable to be around. I pushed down halls on the pediatric floor and wondered what illness was wreaking havoc on a child and a family behind those brightly painted doors.
I arrived at my destination to visit a young man-24 to be exact-who has a lovely wife and a baby boy on the way. That little rascal should arrive in January. What a joy it is to become a father or mother! They are far from home and without immediate family. He was told at first that he had an inoperable brain tumor and stage 4 brain cancer. Well that's a wakeup call. He was also told that his career was over and that this was the absolute worst case scenario for his life. (Thank you very much sir I think I would like another opinion.) The tumor has been operated on and partially removed but he is facing some other severe treatments to get rid of it entirely. The cancer was stage 2 (thanks for the second opinion). Now they must uproot again and travel to a lace where they can get the aggresive treatment he needs. All this with a baby coming in a few months. Now that is a story and that is a situation worth looking at.
WHAT IF...

What if that young mother-to-be was the clerk at the grocery store?
What if that young man was the one you passed driving home?

I'm asking because I don't know the answer.
How many stories are behind those hospital doors?
How many crushed lives are in cars driving around your city?
How many people have heard news so tragic and disturbing today that their world has instantly turned upside down?
Everything that seemed right and normal is suddenly not there anymore. Routine is gone-chaos is the new regime.
Confusion and fear and trepidation and fear--are the emotions bubbling under the surface.
What about them?