Daily Rescue – Compassion, Pass it on!

Wondering what to write about this week:  I could write about Memorial Day. I could write about a short trip to the beach. I could write about the day earlier in the week when I was caught in a deluge and put on a large clear plastic bag to cover myself.  When I stepped into the school building, the 3^rd grade students who met me exclaimed all at once, “Mrs. Emery – What are you doing in a plastic bag?”  I told them I was caught without an umbrella, so I used my creative, engineering mind and made a plastic bag raincoat. And do you know what those 3^rd graders did?  They clapped. I must have looked totally ridiculous, and they clapped!  I absolutely love working with children.  I am so grateful that the Lord’s hand guided me into being a teacher.  I honestly do not know what I would do without children in my life.  They have the most amazing healing power and bring constant waves of hope

So, this brings me to compassion. Today, I was taking a walking around my neighborhood and as I rounded the corner towards home, I saw a young boy about 8 or 9 sitting on the sidewalk with his bike lying on its side.  Quickly, I realized he was hurt.  He just sat there frozen. 

“Do you need help?” I asked. 

“YES!” he shouted, and then huge tears rolled down his face. 

“You’re going to be okay. Do you think you can get up?”

“No!” he cried.  “Okay.  Take a deep breath, you’re okay.  What’s your name?

“Saad,” he said.

“I’m Joanne.  Where do you live?  I’ll take your bike home and tell your parents.  Don’t worry. I’ll get help.”

Off I went to find Saad’s father and little brother  just around the corner. They thanked me and attended to Saad’s bleeding knee.

As I walked back home, I laughed to myself – “Okay, Joanne – that was your first rescue of the day!” Many times a day, people find me and seek my help.  I don’t know what it is, but people just know I will help them. The other day, I was in the grocery store, and a man in a wheelchair was trying to reach the pudding.  I reached up and grabbed it for him. He looked surprised and said, “Well, aren’t you nice!”  Like this was a rarity, and I felt sad.  He was clearly a man who needed assistance, and people often shy away rather than step in.  But stepping in would make them feel so much better.  Stepping in would give them hope and a purpose. I have come to call my frequent helping encounters, “daily rescues,” and I look forward to them.  They teach me a lot about myself and human nature.  They show me that we are all part of this human experience, and we need to come to each other with grace.

Definitely my penchant for compassion came from childhood religious teachings. I knew at a young age that I wanted to follow in the path of Jesus.  It just seemed right to me.  Even when the path was not easy, I wanted to be kind and compassionate. Even when, as a teenager and young adult, I turned from Jesus’s path, there was something inside me that I remembered – to treat people the way I would want to be treated. I am far from perfect, but I knew when I was kind to people that it made both the person and me feel better.  I wanted to feel that glow more and more often.  It’s probably the reason I went into teaching. I wanted children to feel seen, safe, and confident.

Through blogging, I have met some wonderful writers, and I am so grateful to them.  Their posts often illuminate the thoughts with which I’ve been grappling. Fran Haley recently wrote a post about a letter her grandmother wrote her over twenty years ago describing the way she lived her life, always keeping in mind this quote from the Bible: Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30).  Fran’s post talked about the unforced rhythms of grace – acceptance, being buoyed, and carrying on.  I truly believe that compassion makes our burdens lighter and gives us rest.

Kim Haynes Johnson wrote about her rescue dog, Boo Radley – who, though shy and scared by nature, fiercely repelled an angry bull on their farm. Apparently, Boo also engages in daily rescues. I loved the way Kim wrote so lovingly about her little Schnoodle.  He came from humble beginnings but has blossomed into a mighty shepherd.  Her poem brought both a smile and tears to my eyes.

After I had read Fran and Kim’s posts, I opened Mitch Teemley’s newest post and saw a beautiful modern statue with this quote: Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep (Romans 12:15).  When I read that, I knew what I was going to write a post about this week. It is not the first time Mitch’s posts made me pause and ponder.  So, on this Memorial Day weekend, on this verge of summertime beginnings and school endings, I bow my head and consider compassion.  I raise my eyes and wait patiently for my next daily rescue.