A love for humanity
For about 2 years now, God has been placing in my heart a compassion for broken and vulnerable people. This desire is something we should already be developing as we grow in our love for God (see Matthew 22:37-39) and lately this has been weighing heavily on my mind.
Today I've been hearing stories of people who have been affected by the choices and actions of others. I want to share just a few accounts:
1. Today at Switchboard, I received a call through the Teen Linkline (a youth-oriented telephone information and counseling service). The caller was a teen girl in high school. She said that she was hospitalized yesterday because of the painful headaches she receives from the stress at school. This stress, as she explained, was due to the verbal abuse she receives from a few classmates. She had just transferred to that particular school since classes began in the fall because she encountered the same experience in the previous year. She has a limited support system which included her parents, her therapist, and a few friends. The thing is, they could only do so much. Her teacher doesn't do much to stop the attacks and her friends don't speak out much for her defense because they are just as fearful of the bully as she is. My heart broke for her as she was sharing all this to me. I wished so badly I could come to her aid and be that voice for her against these attacks. I wanted to be at her side and sit with her to process this thing with her. But what can I do? And how do you make sense of this--of something so unjust? What can you possibly say? At the call center, we're discouraged to give advise because we're only trained to counsel (hear them out) and provide useful information (of community/social services), if necessary. After we hung up, all I could do was pray for her.
2. My mom was talking to me about a nursing conference she attended yesterday. She recounts a true story the speaker (a male nurse) shared that brought the audience to tears. It happened when this speaker used to work in the ER. A 4-year-old child came in malnourished with bruises, welts, and cigarette burns. As soon as the child was brought in, the parents were taken to jail because it turns out that the child was being abused by them. Tests were done on the child to determine the severity of the physical abuse. While the doctors were waiting on the results, the grandmother came in. This nurse wanted to prepare her for the worse--that this child may possibly die. As the nurse was explaining these things, the grandmother held up her hands to stop him from talking further. She then stated that she's looking for a check that she left in her daughters' purse. (When the parents were arrested, a few of their belongings were left behind...) So the nurse went to get the check. When the grandmother received her check, the nurse tried to continue where he left off. But the grandmother stopped him again and said something like, "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust...this isn't my problem anymore." And just like that she left. Then the test results came in and it turned out that the child is brain dead, so they removed the body from the ventilators and prepared the body to be put away. As my mom was sharing this, I was sick to my stomach. This child's own family did not care about him. And to make matters worse, this child was admitted on his birthday--on a day that was supposed to be celebrated with people who cared about him; to celebrate another year that was added to his precious life. This nurse, himself, was affected by the attitudes of the boy's family. He was deeply hurt for the child that after the boy was wrapped up, the nurse rocked him and began singing the song, "Somewhere Out There." Other nurses, doctors, and staff people came in the room and joined in.
3. My dad shared a little story about some of the clients he deals with. (Btw, my dad works as a life insurance agent). One of his clients died from a terrible car accident and as an insurance agent, he had to bring the check to the family who were under the insurance policy. Just after the funeral, my dad delivered the check. As soon as the wife received it, the adult children quickly approached their mom and said things like, "remember you said you'd get me that Coach bag" or "remember you said you'd get me a used car." How quick they are to seek to satisfy their wants than to mourn the loss of their father!
As horrendous as these stories are, it should not come as a surprise that this is the result of our sinful nature. We're self-seeking, self-pleasing, and simply self-centered. Since the fall of humanity, this world we live in is just as corrupt as our tainted hearts. And as much as we like to think that people are mostly good, we need to face the fact that no one is good at all.
Brandon Heath's song, "Give Me Your Eyes," is a good expression of how we ought to respond in a messed up world.
Today I've been hearing stories of people who have been affected by the choices and actions of others. I want to share just a few accounts:
1. Today at Switchboard, I received a call through the Teen Linkline (a youth-oriented telephone information and counseling service). The caller was a teen girl in high school. She said that she was hospitalized yesterday because of the painful headaches she receives from the stress at school. This stress, as she explained, was due to the verbal abuse she receives from a few classmates. She had just transferred to that particular school since classes began in the fall because she encountered the same experience in the previous year. She has a limited support system which included her parents, her therapist, and a few friends. The thing is, they could only do so much. Her teacher doesn't do much to stop the attacks and her friends don't speak out much for her defense because they are just as fearful of the bully as she is. My heart broke for her as she was sharing all this to me. I wished so badly I could come to her aid and be that voice for her against these attacks. I wanted to be at her side and sit with her to process this thing with her. But what can I do? And how do you make sense of this--of something so unjust? What can you possibly say? At the call center, we're discouraged to give advise because we're only trained to counsel (hear them out) and provide useful information (of community/social services), if necessary. After we hung up, all I could do was pray for her.
2. My mom was talking to me about a nursing conference she attended yesterday. She recounts a true story the speaker (a male nurse) shared that brought the audience to tears. It happened when this speaker used to work in the ER. A 4-year-old child came in malnourished with bruises, welts, and cigarette burns. As soon as the child was brought in, the parents were taken to jail because it turns out that the child was being abused by them. Tests were done on the child to determine the severity of the physical abuse. While the doctors were waiting on the results, the grandmother came in. This nurse wanted to prepare her for the worse--that this child may possibly die. As the nurse was explaining these things, the grandmother held up her hands to stop him from talking further. She then stated that she's looking for a check that she left in her daughters' purse. (When the parents were arrested, a few of their belongings were left behind...) So the nurse went to get the check. When the grandmother received her check, the nurse tried to continue where he left off. But the grandmother stopped him again and said something like, "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust...this isn't my problem anymore." And just like that she left. Then the test results came in and it turned out that the child is brain dead, so they removed the body from the ventilators and prepared the body to be put away. As my mom was sharing this, I was sick to my stomach. This child's own family did not care about him. And to make matters worse, this child was admitted on his birthday--on a day that was supposed to be celebrated with people who cared about him; to celebrate another year that was added to his precious life. This nurse, himself, was affected by the attitudes of the boy's family. He was deeply hurt for the child that after the boy was wrapped up, the nurse rocked him and began singing the song, "Somewhere Out There." Other nurses, doctors, and staff people came in the room and joined in.
3. My dad shared a little story about some of the clients he deals with. (Btw, my dad works as a life insurance agent). One of his clients died from a terrible car accident and as an insurance agent, he had to bring the check to the family who were under the insurance policy. Just after the funeral, my dad delivered the check. As soon as the wife received it, the adult children quickly approached their mom and said things like, "remember you said you'd get me that Coach bag" or "remember you said you'd get me a used car." How quick they are to seek to satisfy their wants than to mourn the loss of their father!
As horrendous as these stories are, it should not come as a surprise that this is the result of our sinful nature. We're self-seeking, self-pleasing, and simply self-centered. Since the fall of humanity, this world we live in is just as corrupt as our tainted hearts. And as much as we like to think that people are mostly good, we need to face the fact that no one is good at all.
"Not a single person on earth is always good and never sins." -Ecclesiastes 7:20
"No one is righteous--not even one. No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one." -Romans 3:10-12This is exactly what Christ died for. He died to save us from ourselves. He died so we could know God and experience His unfailing love for us imperfect people. So, "We love because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19). We don't immediately put others' interest above our own because it's not part of our human nature. To love others and to have compassion for them comes second nature--it takes effort and genuine intention to love like Jesus.
Brandon Heath's song, "Give Me Your Eyes," is a good expression of how we ought to respond in a messed up world.
Give me Your eyes for just one second
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me Your love for humanity
Give me Your arms for the broken hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me Your heart for the once forgotten
Give me Your eyes so I can see
"'I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.'
Then those 'sheep' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about?
When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirst and we gave you a drink?
And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?'
Then the King will say, 'I'm telling the solemn truth:
Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me--you did it to me.'"
- Matthew 25:35-40 [Message]
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