Tunnel Vision

"And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness..." (Joel 2:13)

Good morning, dear friends,

Everyone can tell you where they were, and what they were doing.  My dad would often talk about the day that Kennedy was shot, and how for many years, everyone could remember exactly where they were and what they were doing when JFK was shot.  I was always amazed that one event could so mark a generation.

And then 9/11/2001 happened.

And now, I remember exactly where I was, and what I was doing.

Juliana was a very small baby.  She had a checkup at the doctors and there had been some complications.  She was not putting on very much weight and the doctors were concerned.  They were talking about different possibilities for her, and I was very concerned with new-mom stress.  After all, no one likes to hear that their baby is not doing well.  I remember walking back to the house with her, anxious to share this burden with my husband and to figure out what we were going to do.

As soon as I walked into our apartment, Carey called me over to him:  "Hon, you're not going to believe this..."

And he was right:  I didn't. I sank to the couch in horror, and suddenly my small worries about my child became very insignificant, compared to the awful human drama that I was watching.

So many lives, changed forever.

So many people, living in fear for tomorrow.

So many loved ones, grieving and hurting for those they lost.

So many...

Things are not so different today.

It is some 14 years after that tragic day, and many times, if I am not careful, this day can slip by unnoticed.  With the passage of time, the images become less shocking, my reaction less dramatic.

If I am not careful, I will become again obsessed with the day-to-day living out of my own personal dramas, that I do not heed the sufferings of those all around me.

How many passages in the Bible relate Jesus's compassion for the multitudes to whom He ministered:  "But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd."  (Matthew 9:36)

The needs of the people around me should melt my heart, and provoke a reaction in me.  My tunnel vision should be enlarged to Grand Canyon vision.  Jesus's compassion led to His direct command:  "The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few.  Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest." (Matthew 9:38)

How will my heart be affected by the tragedies displayed in the lives of those around me today?  Will I continue to live in my small kingdom, untouched and unmoved by the difficulties of the messiness of the lives of others around me?

Or, will I, like my Lord, allow myself to be moved...

May I not forget...