While there are lots of things common to every culture,
e.g.: music, language, belonging; there is one element that touched me deeply
this past week while on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic. Compassion; the expression of an
understanding soul.
You see, my Mom, at the age of 95, died on Friday February 1st
at 10am. During the night, I had asked
staff at the long-term care home where she lived if they could help me move Mom
to one side of her bed. I climbed in
next to her; I sang, I prayed, I wept, I spoke, read Scripture and yes, I even
slept a little bit. There was no doubt
in my mind that the Lord Jesus Christ would soon be taking her home to be with
Him. The hardest part of the
two-week-long decline was seeing my Mom in pain; which brings me back to compassion.
One week after Mom’s death, I was in the Dominican for a
nine-day trip that included a Vacation Bible School for 120 children, a ladies
Bible study, working on a pigpen for a Christian school, building walls for a
vocational school, sanding and painting the walls of a church, and engaging
with students who were taking ESL, (English as a Second Language).
Speaking with these students, I told them that my Mom had
died very recently. One young lady, with
tears in her eyes, struggled to ask the question: “How do you feel?” Her angst was partly because of her limited
English, but more-so because of a compassionate heart. My answer: “It has been bittersweet.” My own limited Spanish meant that I could
describe the sweet part: Mom was home with Jesus. The bitter part was more difficult: the pain
of watching my Mom in pain was almost unbearable, even though an understanding
of Jesus taking our pain and our sorrow had reduced the bitterness. Their ESL teacher exclaimed: “Bitter, like a
lemon!” (in Spanish, of course). Yes,
bitter like a lemon. Seeing the
compassionate heart of this young lady was beauty personified; I was so
grateful for our little conversation.
“The Lord’s
lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail.
They are new every
morning; great is Thy faithfulness.”
(Lamentations 3: 22,23)
And the Lord knew that I needed the team of 30 people
surrounding me, for the nine days that we were in the Dominican. He knew that a shared sorrow would ease the
ache. Compassion, like art and music,
crosses cultural boundaries. If you are
looking for beauty; you will find it in those who have compassionate hearts; no
matter the culture, the language or the circumstance.
Everyone Needs Compassion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=t5ghKwGEQRA
