Physician's Assistant

I read an article in the local newspaper today.  The article addressed the effects of poverty on our children.  I was shocked to find out that two out of every five families in my county, with children under the age of 18, live in poverty.   My eyes scanned through the conglomerate of hopeless looking pictures that accompanied the news story.  I lowered the paper to my nose every now and then to peek on my 1- year old playing on the floor.  I watched him focus and  attempt to grasp a rather minuscule toy with his right hand, but just couldn't quite clasp it.  Normally, a simple task such as this would be effortless, but, he currently boasts a bright blue cast that ends just below his elbow .  Sadly, my poor little guy tumbled off  some stairs and fractured his wrist last week.  Luckily, we have a wonderful and caring sports medicine doctor in the family who fixed him up in less than 25 minutes,  gave him a few hugs and stickers, and told us to meet him back at the office in a month.  As simple and easy as that turned out to be, I have to admit, I was a bit irritated  after the whole broken bone incident.  I felt guilty that I was not right there next to him to prevent the fall.  I was upset that my sweet little boy had suffered a serious injury.  On a few occasions, I found myself mumbling complaints while wrapping bread bags around his tiny limb at bath time, and cleaning microscopic pieces of gravel out from in between his fingers after a sandbox fiasco.

As I read that article, my grumbling and aggravation started melting into thankfulness and  compassion.  I wondered how the scenario would have played out if one of those less fortunate children in that  editorial piece took that tumble.  Would they have received medical attention?  Probably not.  Would they have known any different?  No.  Would that fracture have hurt just as bad as it did for my son? Surely.  Would it have possibly caused growth problems if it wasn't casted? Probably so.   

In that moment of vulnerability and dependence, when I could do nothing but console and distract him during his x-rays and casting, I caught a small glimpse of what it feels like to be a mother desperate to make everything better.  I have easily justified my judgment of those that have ended up in poverty, whether they are temporarily down and out or stuck in a generational cycle.  Regardless of whether they have truly strived to escape their circumstances or have made them worse, they are all His children with fractured bones seeking a cure.  Jesus answered them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Luke 5:31-32

As with all tragedies, those that have experienced severe poverty first hand have a deeper compassion and empathy for those in the midst of the trial.  I've listened to my mother recall a few childhood memories.   She has shared stories of packing and sweeping dirt floors and accounts of long blistering days dragging through the fields on top of her mother's cotton sack. Her family has long since escaped those hard times, and although she has left poverty behind, she has kept a resourceful insight and awareness that only one who has been immersed in such a hardship could possess.  It seems that those in the moment of great struggle and need are closer to God than I am sitting in a pew.  Even closer to Him are those that revisit the places they once stood to offer hope and triumph.  The apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 8:8-9 concerning giving,  "I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others.  For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.         

In his book, Rumors of Another World,  Philip Yancey writes, "For the planet, God's will done on earth as it is in heaven would mean food, water, and homes for all who lack, justice in politics and economics, peace between nations, harmony with nature, healing and comfort for the sick, souls reconnected to their spiritual source.  For each of us, God's will means some small role in furthering the above." 

Welcome to one of my small roles.  I am creating this page, "Holding Humanity", dedicated to a different non-profit organization or charitable event each month.   Basic information such as locations, contact info., and how you can donate or get involved will be included, but I am anticipating the personal interviews and testimonies the most.  If you have any suggestions or would like to see a particular ministry or organization featured, please let me know. 

For if I am to become closer to God, I must share about and among those closest to Him.   "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'  Matthew 25:40