Compassion

There’s a God – shaped hole in all of us
And the restless soul is searching...
There’s a God – shaped hole in all of us
And it’s a void only He can fill…

“God – shaped hole”
Plumb


Not so long ago, a friend of mine asked me to go with him to pick up a dog from his friend. Actually, he just asked me to go with him because he didn’t know the way on how to get there. He’s a Thai... he has a car... he’s been in Bangkok for almost 20 years, but I know better how to get around the metropolis than he does. How weird is that?

His friend, whose name i didn’t have the chance to get, was giving the dog away. And even if I am not a big fan of these canine creatures, I could tell that the dog was an expensive breed. And the reason he was giving it away was because he (the friend) has been sick for more than a half a year and he couldn’t take care of the dog anymore.

Anyway, once we got there, what I saw was not a pitiful dog although he (the canine) seemed a little malnourished, but a guy who is more malnourished than his dog. Almost by instinct, I did my ocular evaluation of the sick person, just like the first thing that we do when a patient comes to see us for treatment…

A young adult, 23 – 25 years old, abnormally ectomorphic, significantly deconditioned… body is bent forward, gait is slow and forced, dry, course hair, tropic changes on his face mostly on his nose bridge and cheeks, teeth stained due to forgotten hygiene. Diagnosis is unknown cause neither my friend nor the mother could explain it (in English, that is). What a pitiful sight of a man who my friend said used to be a smart young man. He was on his way to finishing his bachelor’s degree in Culinary Arts or something. And now he has become a sick person who exerts so much effort even just to move around.

My spirit was struck with compassion. Compassion for a stranger who i got the chance to meet just because my friend asked me to go with him. Compassion because there’s nobody else in his family but he and his mother. I know I could help in a small way… give him assistive exercises to regain some strength, help him improve his gait and posture, pulmonary exercises to facilitate more normal breathing, and help him improve his overall ADL (activities of daily living)… Boy! im a genius! And that wouldn’t even cost me anything… just some time and a few bucks to get to his place.

I really wished I could extend some help but I didn’t know how. I told my friend to get the diagnosis so I can form a Physical Therapy treatment plan for the sick young man. He didnt take me seriously.

To this day, i still remember the sight of the poor guy. I asked my friend about him once. It seemed that they have moved to a cheaper place to stay.

But this was what really enveloped me… the fact that there are more people out there suffering from broken, crashed, and amputated spirits. Sickness… Poverty… Fragmented families… Broken hearts… Fractured lives…

Who can help these people who are raised in a culture and belief which teaches them “to be a man unto yourself?” Each person’s present situation, either good or bad, pleasant or painful, is a product of his actions, either from his previous life or his present existence. That’s his “karma.” You shouldnt intervene. Get your hands off him so he can pay his dues already… So he can have a better life in his next incarnation... karma sucks! Seriously...

Point is, there's a multitude of people out there who need the compassion of God in action. It’s just such a shame (even to me!) that not too many of the redeemed are willing to be God’s hands and feet. Some are even busy preaching fire when all these people need is just a bucket of cold water… or pizza.

The Game

Oh my God here I go again
Jumping off this platform to another end
Oh my God, see me going deep
Wont you take these millstones from around my feet
And it's a tragedy, this state I'm in

Why'd you choose me when you knew I wasn't tough enough
Why'd you send me when you knew I would run
Why'd you put me into places that I didn't want
Why'd you call me when you knew I'd hang up…

“The Platform”
Kevin Max (formerly of dc talk)


The game... They say a person either has what it takes to play, or they don’t. My mother was one of the greats. Me on the other hand, i'm kinda… screwed.

O.k... Cut! That was not from me. That was the opening narration of the very first episode of Grey’s Anatomy when the five new doctors joined the tough arena of surgical internship program at Seattle Grace Hospital. And that’s exactly what I want to write about. No... not Grey’s Anatomy. The game…

When we hear of “game”, we think about its negative interpretations. Love is not a game that two people play. Life is not like joining a game that you’d quit on if you get tired. But a game can also have its positive interpretations. Think about NBA. Or the Euro Football League. Or the Olympic games. These are no ordinary games. Athletes of these kinds of game get into strict training, investing a lot of time, energy and money. (Well of course they get more money in return… and along with it, stardom.)

Our calling is also kind of a game that our Leader gets us into. And with that, he expects us to get into it seriously. To invest our time, effort, and well, money… But unlike athletes, our reward goes far more than just riches. We might not even get to see tangible rewards, except for the fact that we know our Master is pleased with our little sacrifices. But just like Meredith Grey, I kinda screwed it.

But my season in the wilderness is nearly over. Yeah, wilderness… whatever you want to call it. That’s kinda ironic. Because the last season was kinda great, actually. I worked hard. I got to get some of the things I wanted. I was free to do whatever I wanted to do. But there was no sense of fulfillment. Dry. Depressing. Dead. A cloud without water. Tree without fruit.

Funny thing is, God has his way of sneaking up on us. And when we realize that the world has really nothing much to offer, all we can do really is to heed the call and get back to the game. After all, time and time again, it’s been proven that the calling is irrevocable.

All I really want is to get right, so I wont get left. But each time I do that, the calling always just follows along. It’s like shadow that cannot be avoided each time a light shines on us. The only way to keep that shadow from following us is to stay in darkness. But we can only stay in the dark for so long. Sooner or later, we will long for the light. Like a moth to a flame, we too get attracted to the Light. And the other people out there who are still in the dark… well, many of them want to be in the light too. They just don’t know how…