WATCHWORD:
So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 1 John 4:16
“For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed.” Says the lord who has compassion on you. Isaiah 54:10
Meditation:
The Math Lesson
Picture this: 7th grade, new boy in school. He’s the youngest and the smallest in his class, extremely shy, always has his head down, he talks to no one; the perfect target for bullying by classmates and at least one of his teachers.
However, his math teacher, Mrs. Hanson, is compassionate, is aware of this new kid and what he’s going through. She reaches out, and, in an effort to instill confidence, she tutors him through some math concepts. Nothing seemed to change until during a timed problem-solving period when he happened to notice a small error made by the classmate sitting next to him. He quietly pointed it out, then kept his head down, fearful that he might be noticed. Later, when the classmate was leaving, she smiled at him and whispered, “Thank you”.
I was that kid. I’ve replayed that slice of my life many times. I really don’t remember the name of my math teacher, but, for some reason, Hanson seems to stick in my mind. The classmate that I helped solve the square root problem? Her name was Janet and she became a friend through two years of junior high and then, to my sadness, she moved away. But it was a beginning of my healing.
It doesn’t take much to walk in love. Sometimes it’s simply showing kindness in the face of pain. Sometimes it’s your presence in their lives that has value. We’ve read devotionals on the topic of “the least of these”, part of the Good Samaritan parable. There are times when I think about that math lesson and how it changed me at a time when I didn’t know how to deal with the darkness in my young life. I was one of ‘the least of thse’. Her simple ‘thank you’ was the pebble that nudged the rock, that tipped the boulder that led to my change.
There are hurting people all around us, who keep to themselves, keep their heads down, do not interact. Too often their thoughts are ‘I just have to get through this, then I’ll be safe’. I’ve come to realize that it wasn’t so much Mrs. Hanson that got me through; it was the Lord nudging her, planting in her the compassion and eyes to see pain when it was right before her. It’s no different for us today. We simply need to be aware and realize that it doesn’t take much to walk in love, for the God of love is there with us. So it is.
Closing Prayer:
Heavenly Father, sharpen our senses, improve our spiritual eyesight, give us hearing to hear the unsounded cry in those who are right before us, even our neighbor. Strengthen us Lord in faith to reach out in love, Your love, and see the least of these that are there in our path, and teach us, Lord, to be Jesus to our own little world. It’s in Jesus’ name we pray Amen.
