A gate called Beautiful. The man was anything but.
He couldn’t walk on his feet but had to be dragged on his
knees. He passed his days among the contingent of real and pretend beggars who
coveted the coins of the worshippers entering Solomon’s court.
And these guys were among them--Pete and John. The needy man
saw them and begged for money. They had
none to give, yet they stopped.
I spent a very significant fraction of my time pondering on
this. “Why did they stop?!” I asked.
Let’s Progress and see.
Peter and his buddy John looked straight at him and said,
‘Look at us!’ They locked their eyes on his with such compassion that “he gave them his attention, expecting to receive
something from them”. Pete and John issued no embarrassed glance, irritated
shrug, or cynical dismissal but an honest look.
It is hard to look suffering in the face. Wouldn’t we rather turn away? Stare in a different direction? Fix our gaze on fairer objects? We give ourselves the excuse that ‘we CANT do anything to change their predicament’. Human hurt is not easy on the eyes. I know. The dusty cheek of the Pakistani refugee. The sight of the skeleton-looking kid in Somalia. The wide-eyed stare of the Peruvian orphan.
Max Lucado spoke of this drifter he and Stanley met one time
in Pennsylvania. Stanley shipp was like a father to him. He (Max) spent his
first post college year under his tutelage. His business card which he gave to
those who asked and those who didn’t, read simply, “Stanley Shipp—Your servant.”
One of our trips took us to a small church in rural Pennsylvania
for a conference, Max continued. He and I happened to be the only two people in
the building when a drifter wearing alcohol like a cheap perfume, knocked the
door. He recited his victim spiel. “Overqualified for work. Unqualified for
pension. Lost bus ticket. His kids didn’t care.” I crossed my arms, smirked,
and gave Stanley a get-a-load-of-this-guy glance, Max said.
But Stanley didn’t return it. He devoted every single optic
nerve to the drifter. Well, the meandering saga finally ended, Stanley led the
man into the church kitchen and prepared him a plate of food and a sack of
groceries. Later on. As they watched him leave, Stanley blinked back a tear and
responded to Max’s unsaid thoughts. “Max, I
know he is probably lying. But what if just one part of his story was true?”
Stan’ said.
Friends, the point is.
…they both saw the
man. Max saw right through him but Stanley saw
deep into him. There’s something fundamentally good about taking time to
see a person.
What do we see when we see…
- · the news clips of children in refugee camps?
- · Reports of 1.75 billion people who live on less than $1.25 a day?
- · Children less than 10 years of age running after a bus in a traffic just for an amount not even enough to feed the entire family at home, let alone get them a good meal for dinner?
So I pose the question again, WHAT DO WE SEE?
Nice one... I guess we all should halt and sometimes think of the people who are just beside us because we never know who God might need us to bless in order to open up our gate of blessings.suffering is not an easy sight to bear but as children of the most high, we should do our best to ease the suffering of others even if it has no physical benefit.Thanks victor for the post.
ReplyDeleteThis is my best part:
ReplyDelete"Max, I know he is probably lying. But what if just one part of his story was true?” Stan’ said."
Love doesn't care about the negative side of things. Love's vision is focused on helping others and not ruining them.