Do Not Miss The Opportunity To Show Empathy To Others

I have been haunted by the face of a Latino mother who showed up at our food bank three weeks ago with her young son. She stated they had been living in a car. I missed my chance to show empathy. It reminded me that we cannot miss the chance to show empathy. Those times may not come again.

We are confronted by police killings, the homeless, mentally ill persons on the street, women who wade in the water with their children to die, people who kill themselves and their families, refugees and people who do not have enough. We have anesthetized ourselves to the pain of others when we see so many people begging on corners who appear to have made a living doing this. Each time we walk away without helping, we lose a little sensitivity to responding to the pain of others. I have been unable to get the pain of this woman from my mind. When it was my turn to serve her, she said to me: “My son and I live in my car, we need things that will not spoil.” I responded by telling her that she needed to be inside where she could get a green bag. As I was trying to talk to her, I was interrupted by others who appeared to be angry at her. One worker said, “She only needs a bag and walked away looking and sounding angry.” We had sweets, bread, carrots, apples, water, and other things that she could have received with her bag. I wanted to ask her why she was sleeping in her car and to offer her some resources to help her. Other workers felt so angry with her that when she went inside for help, she was sent away. Her needs were not met. We have a social services who could have referred her to places to stay or referred her to resources in the community. I should have gone in to help her or been more aggressive in my offer of assistance. I missed my chance to show empathy. I have been unable to forget the pain and agony of her face and voice. I finally realized why. I have been that woman. No. My son and I never slept in a car. We had a guardian angel who took us in her home and sent us to the hospital sensing that my son was in heart failure with pneumonia. She saved his life. I failed to pay it forward. I had been that woman. I felt her pain and have been unable to forget her pain. It reminded me that we cannot ignore the pain and needs of others. My friend Elwyn tells me that he tries to meet the need that God sends his way. If people are lying and are not in need, it is on them. He has met the need. Like the parable in the Bible, we may be missing God testing us when we ignore the need and pain of others. We see the pain of the refugees all over the world. We see others pain. How many times do we walk away? Do we ignore them? We have seen racial discrimination so long that some people have convinced themselves that it and slavery never existed. I missed my chance to show empathy to this woman in need. I will never do so again. We should never ignore the pain of another. I will try to never miss the opportunity to show empathy to the pain of others.  Martin Luther King once said, “Everyone can be great….because anybody can serve. You do not have to have a college degree to serve. You do not have to make your verb and subject agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. a soul generated by love.” After all, this is why I became a social worker. I must never forget my mantra to others: “God loves you. You are too precious to lose.”  This reminded me that I  must not lose any opportunity to show empathy and love to others.