We need to love people
March 12, 2008 (Wednesday)
Someone passed along an email to me this week about a special pair of eyeglasses. When one wears these unique fictitious spectacles, he sees signs stuck on people. Without the glasses, folks are seen as rude and self-serving, but with the glasses, they are seen as people in pain. The signs on them say they are ill, or working two jobs trying to make ends meet while trying to raise children, or are struggling with life in some other way.
Every day we meet people who have problems of their own. They may never speak of their personal anguish or difficulties, but you can count on the fact that they have them. I recall what I heard a young lady say in 1957, a long time ago. Her remarks followed mine in a church training group. In response to a question, I had said something about the difficult situation I was in at the moment. She said to the group, not necessarily in response to me, but as an observation for all the young adults in the room, “You know, everybody’s having a hard time.” For some reason, her remarks stuck in my mind. I’ve remembered them often. What she said was, and is, very true.
One day when Jesus was teaching the multitudes on the west side of the Sea of Galilee, the day wore on and he grew tired. He motioned to his disciples, and said, “Let’s get in the boat and sail to the other side.” They needed rest and a little solitude. When they got to the other side, however, they saw that the people had run around the small sea and were waiting for them. What did Jesus do? Did he say, “Whoa, turn around and we’ll go somewhere else?” No, “when he saw the crowd, he had compassion on them, for they were as sheep without a shepherd” (Mark 6:30ff).
Jesus healed a man of blindness one day, and the man seemed to be healed in increments, for at first he said, “I see men as walking trees.” As Jesus continued to work with him, he began to see people clearly. Jesus has healed our spiritual blindness, but do we see people with insight and compassion? Are we there yet?