Upon entering the Red Wing of the Cancer Center, it was obvious we hadn’t a clue where we were going. Sensing our lack of compass, security approached to guide us. I met this assistance declaring our trio knew where our true North, our Heavenly Father, was; but unfortunately, we were treading South in search of Urgent Care. With a nod of her head, a smile of understanding and a heart for helping others, the agent led us to the over-populated place we were anything but grateful to enter.
Wanting to protect her better half from possible germ proximity, my sister-in-love fearfully declared she wasn’t letting my brother sit in a petri dish. I agreed. She and my brother would shelter in a non-occupied hall corner, and I’d enter the clinic, register, stand guard and signal them inside when my brother’s turn arrived and a clear path to an unoccupied exam room was had. Once registration was finished, I scouted out an uninhabited corner to stay my watch.
Having settled into my outpost, a lump of emotion clogged my throat and eyes. It was not the wheelchair in the way of all entering the unit that seemed to barricade me into a place no one would want to be. It was the man, squirming with pain, inside the wheelchair who chained me into the realization many, who most need a helping hand, have no one by their side. My heart ached. My soul shed tears.
From the back of his chair hung, I thought, a small thermal cooler. A closer glance recognized an oxygen bag. As colorless as his gray hair was his face. His torso twitched in pain. Surely, someone must be parking their car and would show up soon. Minutes ticked by. No one came. Ironically, to the world it was “happy hour”. To the unescorted child of God in the wheelchair, each gut-wrenching moment must have seemed like the hands of the clock had rotated sixty times.
Finally, a hospital personnel stood by the beleaguered man – not to assist but rather to add more paperwork to his plight. The gent’s hands could barely hold the clipboard. Filling out the forms was obviously beyond his strength. Appraoching this brother-in Christ, I asked if he desired a helping hand. Surprised and overwhelmed, he inquired who I was and if I worked there. My reply was simply, no, I was just a child of God sent by his Heavenly Father to help him. He cried.
In truth, that man did more for me than I for him. Just filling out paperwork for him and standing by his side so he wasn’t alone was a blessing to my soul.
Eventually, the MRI tech came to fetch him. As he was transported away, my heart broke. I cried. I knew God would keep sending His servants to care for this child of His; but I, also, knew his journey would be filled with strangers, not family.
Why do I share this story? My hope is that each and every one of us not only hug our loved ones more tightly, but also, open our hearts to see where God might be calling us to be His family for a circle most needing a brother or sister in Christ. Additionally, we the blessed ones, so often, complain about the pebble in our shoe. Instead, it is past time that our eyes, hearts and souls see those who walk barefoot over sharp rocks of undeserved adversity and, shamefully, let us turn grateful for only pebbles befalling us.
The silhouette of an old man in a wheelchair will forever linger in my life. However, this portrait is not of a stranger. I saw, and into eternity will see, the picture of God.
“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’.” Matthew 25: 34-40 (ESV)
Uplifted in a Broken Down World 