Compassion goes a long way

As I've mentioned previously, I was in a relationship that ended badly. I was left emotionally scarred, mentally scarred, and all of the furniture, whether it belonged to my ex or not, was taken. At the time, I allowed him to take whatever he wanted because I just wanted him out of my every day space. It's funny that you don't realize the importance of peace and how much it means until you mature. You just cannot put a price on peace. I therefore lived without furniture for close to two years, with the exception of my bedroom, which is furnished. Initially, it didn't bother me because I had peace, safety, and comfort of going to a home where there wouldn't be any conflict or contention.

After a while, however, my feelings started to change. I started to feel a certain way because I didn't feel right having anyone over; or if someone wanted to meet at my house to "catch up", I knew there wasn't really anywhere to do so.

My boyfriend, from the time that I met him, has never had a problem with the state of my house. He was aware of what I've been through, what I was going through, and he looked beyond that. We would often have little picnics in my living room and enjoy each other's company without any material items. After a while, not having any furniture really didn't affect me. I knew it was temporary and that troubles certainly don’t last always.

Well, three weeks ago, my beau, “S.A.” said that he wanted us to paint the living room. I primed and he did all of the painting while I was working my second job. (Sorry, he doesn’t have a twin!) There were a couple of setbacks (time constraints, unforeseen meetings, getting paint on the ceiling, etc.) but he continued with his vision, one that I wasn’t fully privy to. This past Friday, guess who walks into a beautifully furnished home? Moi? I know that may not mean a lot to many but it meant the world to me. It meant the absolute world to me. Not because of the furniture, but the time and care that someone took to make my life brighter, the time and care that someone took to illustrate that my needs matter, that I matter.

I walked into a furnished living room – sculptures, candles, and, all. To see a space that has been bare (T.V./cable only) for so long, now full with furniture (in the living room), all arranged perfectly,……..I was overwhelmed with a sense of gratitude and joy.

On Sunday, interestingly enough, the Pastor talked about one of my favorite scriptures on love (1 Corinthians….and I just thought about everything that scripture states and I couldn’t help but think about the man sitting next to me (S.A.) who possesses all of these qualities. He focused on Love is Kind in this sermon and talked a lot about compassion. He said compassion comes with a cost. People can have 3 reactions when they see someone “in a ditch”. They can either be removed (too focused on their own problems), moved (feel sorry for the person but don’t do anything but say, wow…that’s unfortunate), or moved to action ..to be compassionate and do something for that person who is actually “in a ditch”. Compassion costs, he said, but it costs more not to be compassionate. Compassion may cost you some time, some money, etc. but not being compassionate costs more. He said the smallest thing, you could do for someone can make them want to hang in there longer (some people are ready to give up, give in, commit suicide, on the brink of depression, etc.), encourage them that things will get better, help to heal the emotionally and psychologically wounded,etc.….

Tears came to my face because I know that it cost S.A. a lot (paint, movers, tools, etc. but it meant more to him for me to have comfort than the cost.) The Pastor said most of us know the cost of everything but the value of nothing. I just wanted to cry. He talked about the man that was robbed and beaten and left in a ditch in the bible. The Priest saw him , looked and kept walking by…..the Levite saw him, looked, and walked by. The Samaritan is the one that stopped. He put wine (as an antiseptic on his wounds) and oil on his wounds to heal him and gave an innkeeper 2 days wages for the man's stay…I just thought about how many times, people walked by my ditch………….but sitting next to me, someone didn’t pass me by. I just cried.

I cried because that act of kindness actually gave me the encouragement to move forward in spite of other setbacks. It also gave me comfort that everything will be okay. I am also inspired to move forward with certain changes that aren’t going to be easy but I know everything is okay. Every time I walk in to my house, a sense of love, hope, joy overcomes me. I am assured that everything will be okay.

Today, I challenge you to meet someone at their place in need. It doesn’t have to be a grand gesture but I assure you that you can do the smallest thing that will mean so much to someone. Please don’t walk by the person in their ditch. Someone stopped for me and I beseech you to stop for someone else.

Blessings!