No Tears on My Forehead

Ernest Gordan's book, To End All Wars, is deep and touching. As of this moment I have not finished it, but it is rich in sharing how men in desperate and difficult circumstances rose above selfishness and self preservation living to see miracles occur all around them. They were prisoners of war under Japan and their treatment was extremely and excessively brutal. Yet they came to feel another "presence" among them in the selfless acts of other prisoners who gave themselves up for the majority.

There is a story Mr. Gordan shares in his book that I can relate to very deeply. A young man is dying in the prison's death house. The death house was a place where the most sick and weak were brought to stay until they finally died. The young man in the death house had no hope and all he could feel was his heavy weight of loneliness. He asked one of the orderlies to see if Ernest Gordan would come and visit him. The orderly approached Mr. Gordan and told him of the young man's request and he agreed to go and meet him. Upon seeing the nameless young man for the first time Gordan wrote these words of what he saw, "The dim light accentuated the boys youth and loneliness." The young man was afraid and friendless in a place deep with death and those in the process of dying. Gordan visited with him and told the young man he'd come and see him each day. In the process, Gordan also told others about the young man and soon many people were dropping by the death house to spend some time with him before the gangrene finished its awful work. During their visits, Gordan and the others allowed God to minister to him through them.

On the young man's last night to live,the orderly sent for Gordan to tell him the young man didn't have long to live. Rushing to his side, Gordan described that he saw a different person before him. The young man was no longer lonely and now he was confident as his time drew near. Gordan began reciting the Lord's prayer and the young man mouthed it with him. While Gordan continued through the prayer, the young man's breaths came in sobs and finally quit altogether. Gordan said, "I put down his hand by his side, smoothed his hair and wiped from his forehead one of my tears."

The reason this story is so moving to me is because there is one difference for me. The loneliness is as real for me as for the young man in the story. I can relate deeply to being friendless and lonely. Yet for me, there will be no tears on my forehead. I will not be missed. And that ache is very painful and I want so much what Ernest Gordan and the other prisoners found in their POW compound. I hope the rest of the book brings light to me.

Where Has Empathy Gone?

An observation: I believe that empathy is fast becoming a lost human trait. I've been working in downtown Houston for over a year now and from time to time homeless people will approach those of us standing at our bus stop and ask for money. As I watch them approach individuals, I see many kinds of reactions. Some will look and listen to their plea and then shake their heads no. Others will respond I don't carry cash on my person. Some will wave the person away as they are approaching them. Yet, the ones that really get to me are the ones who have their Blackberry's or Iphone's in their hands and will not even look at the homeless person while they are talking. It is as though they are saying, you are not worth me looking at and acknowledging you as a person.

How did we get this way? I think that most of those waiting at the bus stop make way more money than we need to be comfortable. So, what will one dollar hurt if we have more discretionary cash than we need? I have heard the arguments from people in my church to justify why they choose to ignore them because, "I don't think we should give to them because they are probably going to buy alcohol or drugs with the money." So, does that truly justify not having empathy towards them? Or is that simply an argument to keep our consciences salved?

The prime example of little empathy living in the world today came from the former CEO of BP when the Gulf blowout occurred. I don't for a moment think he meant it to come out in the words that it did, but how could he say, "I just want my life back"? At that very moment there were 11 families who wanted their loved ones back. Yet, what was on his heart was not the grieving families, but his life. The clear example of no empathy in his heart was the sneaky way he chose to leave the gulf region while his company was fighting hard to contain a major disaster so he could attend a sailing competition. He was so sneaky, he tried to disguise himself while on the boat so others would not notice what he was doing. All of this shows a deep lack of empathy in this man. Yet, I believe it mirrors that majority of us on this good Earth.

Philip Yancey writes that when we read the Bible one thing we notice is that Jesus never turned anybody away that approached him and asked him for something. He also did not discriminate based on circumstance. By that I mean between deciding that this person is "more" deserving of my help than that person is. He healed everyone who asked him for healing. He talked to everyone who approached him with questions. The Samaritan woman at the well who was living with her boyfriend after being married and divorced 5 times found deep empathy from Jesus and it changed her life. Yet I don't see empathy occurring very much in our society today.

On this Thanksgiving Day, I have the ability to pause and lift up thanks for my material blessings and I have much. I think moving forward I want to imitate Jesus and not turn people away that ask me for help. Let's see if empathy can be reignited once it has grown cold in our hearts. We know that it has power, because empathy moved the Samaritan women so much that she ran into town and told them you need to "come see this man I met, because I think he is the Messiah!" Rekindle empathy in my heart, Father, because you tell us that you care about the poor, the orphans, the widows, and the weak among us. I want to exhibit what you expect from me as your child.