Oasis
A few years ago, CNN television reporter Peter Arnett related a touching experience while on assignment in Israel where a bomb exploded. As he waded through a mass of wounded people a man carrying a severely wounded girl begged Peter to take her to a hospital. Being a Media person he was among the few who were permitted beyond police security cordons.
Peter rushed the man and the bleeding girl to the hospital in his car. They waited with hope that the girl would survive but after a few moments of anxious waiting the doctor declared the tragic news that the little girl died.
The man collapsed in tears. As Peter Arnett comforted the man saying “I don’t know what to say. I can’t imagine what you must be going through. I’ve never lost a child.” The reply he received was shocking.
The man turned and looked at Peter saying, “That girl was not my daughter. I’m an Israeli settler. She was a Palestinian. But there comes a time when each of us must realise that every child, regardless of that child’s background, is a daughter or a son. There must come a time when we realise that we are all family.”
Jesus emphasised, “I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors (tax collectors were a hated lot) doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? (Mathew 5:43-47)
Catholic Monk and spiritual writer Thomas Merton wrote “Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone - we find it with another.”
True love is to feel the pain of others in your heart. To be human is to see ourselves as connected with each other. Only then will can we break down walls that tend to separate us, life becomes meaningful and we make the world a better place to live in.
How much do you feel the pain of others in your heart?