Wednesday 10/15

 

I recall something I wrote years ago in response to I don’t know what. I wrote, “Everyone is handicapped. Some physically. Some mentally. Some emotionally. Some spiritually.” Now I think I would like to add one more. Some are handicapped through their own comfort. Some are so immune to the suffering of others. Whether that isolation occurs physically, geographically or mentally, intentionally or unintentionally, for some of us, it is very real. For those who have never suffered through pain and trials, once you personally experience the heart of the downtrodden you are never the same.

 

-           When a homeless person you’ve been encouraging each week comes up to you and excitedly says, “I worked three days this week!” you begin to appreciate how good you’ve got it.

 

-           When a tall thin guy that you spoke to two weeks ago, who at the time was sitting down eating, with beads of sweat covering his face, and you understood it was hot out, but this sweat wasn’t from the heat. When this guy gets to your end of the food line and looks good and it looks like he’s had a good week, (not that I assume he’s kicked whatever he was on), when you can be glad in the moment for him and know that right now, for a little while anyway, he’s okay, you appreciate your own health and well-being.

 

 

-           When you hear some of the stories and begin to understand how people have come to where they are, you consider yourself blessed to own a different story.

 

-           When you see the same people line up every week and know the struggle isn’t getting any easier for them, you wish you had their persistence and resilience (I know I don’t!).

 

 

-           When you realize that some of these people have been in the same clothes for days and days, (and all that that brings with it) and you know that yes, sometimes you can do something about that.

 

When we see the hurting how can we just turn a blind eye? We can’t be everything to everyone, but we can do something for someone. I’m reminded of the story of the boy at the beach. An old man walking by sees him throwing starfish after starfish back into the water. The old man approaches the boy and says, “Son, there must be a thousand starfish washed up on the beach. You aren’t making a difference! You can’t save them all!” To which the boy replies as he proceeds to hurl another back into the surf, “I’m making a difference for this one!”

I’ll close this chapter as I opened it. When we take small steps, they may seem inconsequential at first, but you know what’s inconsequential? Not taking ANY steps! No one is saying that the fate of the world lies upon your shoulders. What I am saying is that the difference you may be able to make in someone’s life may just be giving them the opportunity to smile. If that is all you can do today, start there. Then think of what you can do tomorrow. Even the smallest of actions oftentimes opens up the doors and allows us to see and gives us added opportunities to help in ways we never imagined.

And the God thing about all this is how He takes what we do and firstly changes everything about it. He takes the blessing we meant for others, the piece of our ego that patted ourselves on the back for helping the less fortunate, and the smile we give ourselves in the mirror each day because we are ‘good’ people, and despite all that self-centeredness, God loves us so much not to point that out to us. He appreciates when we help take care of His kids, and we are ALL His kids, and He turns the blessing in our favor. He blesses us with the gift of genuine empathy for others. He blesses us by allowing us to stretch our boundaries and perspective and appreciate life itself, viewed from the other side of the alley. And we know deep down, and even not so deep down, that the blessings we are receiving are far more valuable that the tidbits we invested in our opportunity. When we can see ourselves growing; when we can see how life works, and see that it doesn’t revolve around us, when we can see the world through God’s eyes, we become so incredibly humbled at how much God loves each and every one of us. We become someone that doesn’t just observe the homeless, but someone who has come to realize it is a problem for us as well. We find a new and welcome responsibility to be there for those who at times can’t even be there for themselves. Then, coming from those tentative first steps we took months ago, we want to reach out and encourage others to volunteer as well. We do this not because we need the help, or the homeless need the help (which they do), but because we have been rewarded in our hearts and it feels good. Good because God changed our perspective, not good because we are bringing food to the bridge and patting ourselves on the back. We feel good about seeing young kids help serve cookies. We feel good when we see one of our youngest servers, sweet Elle, grab bottles of water and walk around asking, “Who needs one?” We feel good for the person getting the dessert, but more so because we know that here are kids that are growing into empathetic people. Without empathy, I don’t believe any lasting, meaningful and significant change occurs, in society or in people!