On my walk to work this morning I encountered a young man in a wheelchair. I was running late and walking at a somewhat brisk pace as I came up to him slowly inching himself along.
The bleeding heart in me immediately screamed that I should help him.. Give him a push.. Ask him about his morning.. Something..
Then another voice appeared immediately after - this was one of alarm. No longer of compassion or mercy for this young man, but one that told me to keep going right on by.. My thoughts went from "of course I should help!" to "What will he think?" Will he think that I just feel sorry for him and think I am superior in my able body with tall boots on? Will he think that I merely seem him as special needs? The kind of person that one takes care of the way that people take care of injured puppies?
All of my social work training on empowerment appeared in my mind.. What if he is harsh with me and tells me that he can do it himself? What if my attempts at help make him feel feeble, when that is not what I think at all? What if ...? What if.. ?
And before I knew it, I had passed him by. My indecision led to a lack of action.
As I walked in front of him, I kicked myself..
"I wonder if he feels invisible...
Does he know that I saw him and that I care about him, it was just my fear that stopped me?
Does he know that God sees him?"
My fear of social stigmas kept me from loving him as Jesus would have.
I feel like in our culture we are told that people want to do things for themselves. We (mostly me.. maybe a few of you as well...) tell ourselves that people don't want our help. They are doing just fine without us.
But is this what God says? God says to care for the widowed, the poor, the handicapped... How do I know who to help and who to not?
I guess my question this morning is how do I love people as Jesus would have without being afraid of what society is telling me about how I should behave?
