Moved by Compassion
Laura Starr is a wife, mother, worship leader, and such a dear friend! She is someone that I (Rebecca) go to on the daily to talk, cry, laugh, get coffee, and continue to grow in faith as sisters in Christ. We are so excited that she is writing for you all this week. Her story brings such a new perspective to compassion and it is well worth the read!
Read below, comment, and join the conversation! XO, the Boldly Seeking Team
“Let me be filled with kindness and compassion for the one…The one for whom you loved and gave your Son for humanity. Increase my love.”
For The One
Brian and Jen Johnson
He was 20 years old, and had been in a terrible car accident. He had suffered a severe traumatic brain injury and his life would never be the same. He was unable to communicate verbally, and was learning how to walk using a walker. His father came with him to every therapy session, walking with him at his side, and wiping the saliva from his mouth as his paralyzed muscles were unable to control and swallow. From my inexperienced and untrained perspective, I sadly admit I felt such devastation and loss of hope for this young man. What was his future? Will he ever be independent? Is this all worth it?
I was completing a summer internship for my pre-physical therapy pathway and was fortunate to have the experience at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. I observed as the therapists worked with him diligently, everyday, so he could regain basic skills. He walked with a therapist with a walker for about 20 feet, then needed to take a break. The next day, he walked a little further. I will never forget the day the therapist that had been working with him excitedly came over to me and exclaimed “Did you see that?! He just walked across the whole gym without taking a break!”
It was like a switch was flipped in my heart and mind. I suddenly felt shame for even considering those questions. “Was it worth it?”
What if Jesus looked at me, at my mess, and asked that question of himself? Is she worth it? He did ask if there was any other way (can you blame him?!) but he never asked if I was worth it. He showed us an ultimate example of what we are worth by what he did on the cross. Over and over again we see examples of Jesus being moved to action by compassion because of the worth of human life: In Matthew 14, he was grieving the loss of John the Baptist, and was still moved by compassion to heal the sick that had followed him. In the same chapter, Jesus has compassion on the crowd that has followed him for days, so he feeds them. His compassion lead him to an action - caring for the sick and hungry.
My question regarding the worth of therapy with the young man was never regarding whether or not his life had inherent value; rather, is all of the effort put in to helping him take another step going to be worth it in the end. What I realized was that a paradigm shift was required to understand that regardless of the expected or anticipated outcome, it is ALWAYS worth it to invest moment to moment, day to day in the life of another human.
I pray that would be true of my life. That I would be compassionate first, no questions asked. That Jesus’ ultimate compassion that was shown to me, would move me toward action of stepping alongside others in this journey. That I would recognize that even if it’s just one step, maybe it’s one more step than it was the day before.
