Have you watched the 40-Day Journey videos on our website? Take a look at the interview with Major Boglin. At one point in the interview I ask him what he hopes will be the outcome for our church family. He remarks that he hopes there will be an "ongoing dialogue" concerning acts of compassion. As he is leaning against a wall in our church building, he mentions that he hopes in the future that "if these walls could talk" they would tell countless stories of active compassion throughout our church and community.His words are so inspiring! But as is always true with Major, his inspiring words came mixed with sobering comments. He opens his interview with a reference to philosopher Thomas Kuhn who noted that we see what we look at--but with the influence of our perceptual experiences. In essence, we see only what we have been taught to see. So we also overlook the people we’ve been taught to overlook.
This concept has been the core of most of my conversations over the last three days. As the amazement of Sunday’s gift settles in on us, our true heart is beginning to show. I have had so many people say to me that when they first received their voucher, their first thought was wrapped up in the excitement of giving all the funds to some organization or charity. But then as they prayed, and began to see their world more completely (…work, school, commute, MARTA, airport, sidewalks, libraries, study hall, cafeteria, walking in the neighborhood, in the grocery store, at the gas station…) they began to wonder if God wasn’t calling them to more personal engagement.
Maybe the easiest and least engaging thing I could do is just request a check to an organization somewhere. Of course it would be one that is doing great things to serve others. And that is a wonderful thing to do. Support worthy efforts that are making a difference in our world. But it that is ALL I do, then I have missed the core of the Good Samaritan story! This is not a story of a guy that simply gives money to a needy man and then hurries on his way.
The Samaritan does not flip two silver coins at the dying man as he scurries along his sterile path. Can you imagine what the Samaritan looked like, smelled like, felt like by the time he bandaged the man’s gaping wounds and picked him up, certainly staining his own garments with sweat, dust and blood? What fatigue did the Samaritan battle as he stayed up nursing the man through the night in the inn-turned-ER?
The scene of this story is filled with the sights, smells, sounds and stimulus of the “Bloody Way.” But the main character in the scene fears neither the way of compassion nor the way of personal engagement.. He makes room in his life for both the kind of active compassion that simply cannot stay disengaged.
What will it take for you to step closer to the hurting? What fears will you have to overcome to actually get close to the hurting, broken, and poor? Do you have some past experiences or examples that have kept you from being deeply engaged with people who are really down and out? What might God have in mind for you in regard to serving others if He has his way in your life by the end of the 40-Day Journey?
- Don McLaughlin
You know, I’ve lived in Atlanta for over 11 years, now, and I have never--not once--driven to Crawford Long Hospital (yes, I know it’s an Emory facility now) without getting turned around. I went from getting lost each time I drove there--I mean, tried to drive there--to the point where now I just have to backtrack and turn around a couple of times.What I do know is this: I do not like being lost around that area after dark. The unfamiliarity of it makes me uneasy. I have found myself accusing the GDOT of narrowing the lanes after dark. Illogical, I know. But an unfamiliar landscape or roadway can make me nervous and anxious.
In kind of the same way, doing things in a new way with a fresh perspective can also make me a little uneasy. As I’m keeping my eyes open for those who are in need, I may find myself in unfamiliar territory--literally and figuratively. But I’m paying attention more.
Consider these quotes as you think about paying attention to the scenes you’re in each day:
Tell me to what you pay attention and I will tell you who you are.
- Jose Ortega y Gassett
When you make a commitment to a relationship, you invest your attention and energy in it more profoundly because you now experience ownership of that relationship.
- Barbara de Angelis
The best way to forget ones self is to look at the world with attention and love.
- Red Auerbach
Since you cannot do good to all, you are to pay special attention to those who, by the accidents of time, or place, or circumstances, are brought into closer connection with you.
- Augustine of Hippo
The studies indicate that focusing our attention on someone else, takes our mind off of our own problems. We stay healthier and thereby live longer.
- Allen Klein
- Sheree Yasko Hill
