Many years ago, my father told me a story about an experience he had one day while grocery shopping. It had a profound effect on me and I think it’s a story we can all relate to in one way or another. It’s also a great segway into my monthly blog on finding joy.
“I was grocery shopping one day, back when you kids were little. There I was filling up my cart when I noticed this older man walking up and down the aisle. His clothes were tattered and in the place of a belt, he had a frayed, old thin rope holding up his pants. I watched as he put a few canned items into his cart. He was barely taking anything off the shelves, except for the cheapest things. Anyway, as I pulled into the lane to check out, he was in front of me. I looked at my cart full of food and I looked at his cart, basically empty. I thought to myself, ‘David, you have cash in your wallet. onTell this man to go fill up his cart and that you’ll pay for it.’ But, for some reason, I didn’t and he has haunted me ever since. I have always wondered if that was a test for me. I’ve wondered if that was Jesus in disguise and I failed to help Him.”
I have never forgotten this lesson my dad taught me. We’ve all been there. We’ve all had an opportunity presented in front of us where we could have offered Christ-like love and haven’t for one reason or another.
I hear a lot of people say, “Why does God allow all this suffering in the world? If He really loved us wouldn’t He just take all the pain away?” Granted, I’ve been stumped on this, too. It’s a hard question to answer. It’s a question that I think we have all wrestled with and it’s understandable that we do. I read something once that really related to my father’s lesson and I really helped me to understand. Many people lose faith in God because they can’t find an answer to this question. But, even if you remove God, the suffering still exists… and then who is left to blame?
If you look around, we, as humans, create most of the suffering in this world. Sure, much pain is caused by accidents and natural disasters, but the mass majority of suffering is from one human causing another human pain. And we blame God? Why not turn that finger around to ourselves?
Suffering in this world is an opportunity to love. See, humans are kinda predictable. If things are going hunky-dory, we get lazy with our outpouring of love–in fact, we don’t even pour it. Sure, we love our family, we love our friends, but if all is going good, we tend to slip into our own bubble. Whenever we slip into our bubble of me, myself, and I, we become unhappy. We become sensitive to every irritation, every annoyance. We become self-focused and start to demand that others make us happy. Joy slips from our fingertips.
When we witness suffering, however, we feel moved to love, to give, to share what we have…and it’s really a beautiful thing. Not the tragedy, but the way in which we respond. Look at the response after any natural disaster. While the disaster is devastating, heart-breaking, and maddening, you can see immense amounts of love pouring into the impacted area. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want tragedies to occur just so we can find ways to show more love. I wish they didn’t happen, but each time it does, we, as humans, are presented with the beautiful opportunity to overwhelm with love. We become more Christ-like in those moments and we show those in hard-times that they are cared for, not forgotten, and loved. It’s one of the attributes that sets us apart from other animals–our desire to reach out in times of pain and sadness.
My dad felt tested that day in the grocery store, but I don’t believe it was a test. I think everyday the Holy Spirit calls all of us to action by communicating to our souls, saying, “I need you to help this person. I call you to extend my love. I deem you fit to fix this problem.”
Jesus told us that we would “do greater works” than Him. There was a time when I didn’t fully understand what He was really saying. I mean, who does greater things than the Son of God? But, Jesus said that He was the head and we are His body. Doesn’t it make sense? He is not physically here, so we are His hands to heal the hurt, His lips to give consoling words, and His heart to love. We are the physical form of Christ present in the world to do His work.
We all ask who is to bring an end to suffering? We call out to God, shaking our fists, screaming, “Why aren’t you fixing this?” But, WHY aren’t we? We are to be the extensions of Christ. We are His answer to so many problems. He gave us the Holy Spirit so that we might be millions of Christ-like imitators walking around, healing pain, serving the poor, forgiving wrong-doers, mending brokenness, and, above all, loving. We may not be able to stop tornadoes, hurricanes, or other natural disasters, but we can sure be there to help rebuild the lives of those that have lost everything. We can be the arms that hold a grieving person who has lost a family member. It won’t take away the pain completely, but nobody wants to go through tragedy alone. We have the opportunity to carry them when their grief is too much to bear and be their strength when they feel they have none left. God has given us an answer and it is us.
You might be wondering what I read that got me thinking about my dad’s story again. Well, it’s simply this, “The poor we help are Christ in mask.” You can substitute poor with anything: The abused, the broken-hearted, the grieving, the neglected, the angry, the forgotten. Or, said another way in the words of a wise priest, “Better to treat everyone as if they are the Son of God than to treat the Son of God as if He were nobody.”
There’s another key element to all this, which is: Joy radiates in our lives when we give our time, attention, and treasures to others. When we step outside ourselves and work to relieve the suffering of others, we experience joy. My dad’s story helped me to fully understand that we have a higher purpose than just looking out for ourselves. In fact, when all we ever do is look out for ourselves, our lives lose luster and purpose. This lesson taught me to try to see the hurt, the wounded, the homeless, the hungry, the abused as people God is calling me to serve. This is not to be mistaken with slavery. God gives us free will to serve or not. When we answer the call to serve, one of the outcomes is experiencing joy in our lives.
You could say, “Well, if He’s God, does He REALLY need our help? Couldn’t He just take care of it on His own?” Yeah, He could. I don’t know about you, but I become a better person when I answer the call to help those in need. If God just swept up the mess every time, I would never get out of my comfort zone and push myself to help my fellow man. Not only are we helping someone in need, but we are helping ourselves when we overcome our human tendencies toward pride, selfishness, and apathy. Both souls–
One of my followers asked me to write about finding joy. So, this year, each month, I write one blog on the topic. Be sure to check out my others.
