Our lives don’t tend to follow a straight line.
Forward-thinking high school dreamers rarely end up with the exact career or lifestyle forecast by the goals they formulated at the starting gate of their journey. No one can with much accuracy predict where they might end up or what circumstances they will have to navigate along the way.
The one certainty seems to be the fact that there will be obstacles and blessings, pain and joy, ups and downs throughout our lives.
It’s the journey that unites us. How we honor one another’s journey determines the kind of community we will be. I have been in my role at the food pantry for over 20 years now. Our mission is to love our neighbors and help people who are dealing with food insecurity. Serving for so long in a people-oriented business like the pantry, I’ve been blessed by interactions with every different type of person God has placed on this earth.
I’ve heard so many stories that I have to guard myself from thinking about them at times because it makes me tear up so quickly. Yet, even after all this time serving, learning and growing as a person, I can still sometimes find myself being quick to judgment.
“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven.” – Luke 6:37 Yikes — I sure don’t want to be judged, but it’s so much easier to just make quick decisions instead of taking the time to figure out what is really going on behind the scenes. It’s tempting to do this with people by assuming we understand their situation without needing any context.
When we stop to remember that our fellow humans are also on a journey that has brought them to this point in life, we can begin to engage with empathy.
Empathy is a step beyond sympathy (oh I feel so bad for you). Empathy lends itself to taking action to join the cause and physically doing something to help change things. Empathy seeks to understand and offer compassion.
Life is plagued with problems. It always has been. People get taken down every day over mental health issues, addictions, sudden onset and chronic health concerns, failed relationships, job and family transitions.
When we rush to explain away people’s circumstances instead of seeking to engage in kindness, we miss the chance to grow toward an empathetic response to the issue of poverty. If we live in judgment, we will become blind, unable to learn and grow.
We will forget the times when we ourselves were challenged by our own troubles and felt judged because of it.
I don’t know if too many of us escaped high school unscathed by being picked on, embarrassed or bullied for a reason that we did not fit in with the majority of the others.
I endured a teenage season where I was combating acne and had a blemished complexion. This strike on my vanity was very damaging to my self-esteem at a point of time when the opinions of my peers seemed critical to defining my social status and sense of selfworth.
Although there was little in my power to change this condition, my physical flaw invited hurtful comments and drew a degree of social isolation. We all encounter people who are unique and different from us.
It is easy at any age to form an immediate and unfounded opinion about others even when they are hurting and vulnerable.
Twenty-two percent of the residents of Barry County live at or below the poverty level. Wage stagnation, underemployment, rent burden and insufficient low rent housing are among some of the factors building upon poverty risk in our area. National studies have indicated that over 50 percent of people in America are just one paycheck removed from homelessness.
At a moment’s notice, any of us could experience a crisis or life altering event where everything could change our stability, routine, and foundation for our days ahead.
Yet in the middle of such storms, we hope that we will be able to find help from others in our community who act as windows of hope. Equip advocates whose help is not limited by shortsightedness based upon our circumstances.
Mobilize empathetic efforts among those who understand our journey and can relate because they are also on a journey. I encourage us to become the type of people we would want to be helped by.
Get involved. Seek to understand. Live with compassion!
Janet Mills is the director of Cassville Pantry, located at 800 W. 10th St. in Cassville. She may be reached at cassvillepantry@gmail.com or 417 846-7871
