Stepping Into Suffering

On my way to the bank this morning I encountered a man passed out on the sidewalk in front of a busy café. Mind you it’s been pretty hot these days in sunny, southern California and I couldn’t get over the fact that he was almost cooking their in the blazing sun. Yet what struck me even more was that so many people were coming and going and not one person had done anything to help him.

And I do say “we” because even though I recognized his plight, I too initially didn’t do anything to help this poor man either. Sometimes I am slow to react (trust me my wife will tell you all about it), but my heart was moved and my heart moved me to act.

I approached him uncertain about how he might react. Kneeling down next to him I called out, both to make my presence known and to hopefully illicit some sort of response. Nada. After a few shakes he awakened from his siesta and agreed to allow me to help him move out of the sun and into the shade. He could barely stand on his own.

He needed help, someone to lift him up and walk with him. And the same is true for so many people, whether they are literally lying in the streets or just suffering from despair or lack of love. I guarantee you know plenty of people who are in need of help, who need to be led to a change of life.

Love Does Not Judge

Each time we encounter them is another opportunity to lead them to life change by sharing the love that God has so graciously lavished upon us. Perhaps we don’t know the reason for which they find themselves in such dire straights. Maybe it is of their own doing, or maybe it is the result of some difficult circumstance. No matter.

I knew this man was drunk. I didn’t know why. And who am I to judge whether he is worthy of a charitable act or not based on my personal perception of his misconduct? Should I have passed him by like the levite and the priest before the Good Samaritan finally stopped? Of course not. I cannot judge who is worthy of my love. God has loved me unconditionally and so too should I offer my love. Not with conditions or qualifications.

An Opportunity to Lead with Love

I believe we are given these circumstances for a reason. Thomas Merton reflected similarly in his autobiography The Seven Storey Mountain:

“As I left the church there was no lack of beggars to give me the opportunity of almsgiving, which is an easy and simple way of wiping out sins.”

And it’s true. These encounters are opportunities in which we are challenged to love as God loves, to extend freely and without prejudice the loving hand of God to our fellow brothers who find themselves in need of someone to lift them up out of their brokenness and despair. They aren’t able to ask for help and even if they are they often don’t have the courage to do so.

Even more so we must allow Christ to touch them through us. For we can never know if through even this brief and seemingly simple encounter the love of God can enter into and transform their lives forever.

Question: Do you give of your love freely or do you tend to judge whether or not a person is worthy to receive it? What opportunities might you have this week to offer your love without prejudice to someone in need?