Today I arrived at work and greeted a colleague. We smiled and exchanged the normal "How was your weekend?" that has come to be the acceptable Monday-morning small-talk. However, he broke the unwritten rule of acceptable small-talk, by being abnormally honest and saying that he hasn't been doing too well, and has been going through a difficult time. I could see that he was bursting to get something off his chest, but even when I inquired as to what the matter is, he smiled his big, toothy grin and shrugged it all off with a mumble about 'family matters'.
My heart just ached for him, and I wished I could reach into his soul and touch it and make it all better... kind-of an emotional overreaction for Monday-morning small-talk, right? Yeah, that's what I thought too.
But I've been putting some thought into it. A fellow human being is hurting. Someone I see almost every day. Someone who smiles at me every time. Even if our relationship is predominantly business, can I really bring myself to blatantly not care? Isn't it my responsibility as a human being to care, on some level? If not, wouldn't I simply be inhumane?
A fire is lighting in my spirit, slowly igniting over the last few months, and if I must be honest: it scares me. I can no longer deny that I have a passion for the broken. The scary thing about having a passion for broken people, is that there will always be broken people, which might make it what we call a 'losing battle'. But if you help just one person, have you really lost the battle? For that one person, it is an immense victory!
I was driving home this afternoon - my car now being a regular place of contemplation for me - and my iPod played a beautiful song that cut straight to my innermost being. Eerily, the song is an echo of this morning's experience with my colleague:
The song describes a great deal of sadness, and one line in particular stands out: This is an Emergency. It is so true. This world is in a state of emergency, and it is our responsibility as humanity to care for one another. There will always be poverty. There will always be sickness and cruelty. But this is no reason for complacency - we are called to lead the broken home.
So here I am, coming to terms with what God has laid on my heart, and wondering what to do with it. The way I'm feeling right now, I could easily throw caution to the wind and join the ministry full-time, but maybe once I figure it out for real, I will share it with you.
For now, fellow inhabitants of this planet, please look after eachother. Be humane. Take the time to care. Allow the heart of God to pump in your chest. You will never see the world the same.
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