Serving Up Compassion

     My heart was broken this week. On Thursday, April 5, 2018 some form of immigration raid ended up taking place in our home town of Morristown, Tennessee. This is not a political blog nor do I intend for it to become a politically charged post based on emotions and stances. What I do plan to share with you today are the acts of human compassion that have taken place since the events of April 5th. Human beings, families, students, parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, and grandparents were all potential targets of this tragic incident. To think that a child could go to school happy and content just like any other normal school day and by the time the dismissal bell rang at 3:00, her world had been turned upside down completely, this blows my mind and does not register in my head. Her mother had just been detained and now stands to be deported out of the United States, leaving her daughter all alone here in a country that she now believes does not want her either. This was the story over and over on that day, which is a travesty and a challenge for our elected officials going forward. Today's Flat Tire Ministries Thought is not about what our government needs to do or not do, no today's FTM is about what transpired after the detainment occurred and is still going on as I sit to write this posting.
     What happened gives me hope, what took place warms my soul, it encourages me to always remember that you and I can make a difference. You may only be one person, but what I have seen is so many individuals joining together to form what can only be labeled as an extended community effort joining forces in support of human beings in a complete act of selfless compassion. Place yourself in their shoes. Life turned upside down and no way to figure out what is going to happen next. I can't give you a visual picture that would do justice to the look of dismay that I witnessed, but I can share with you the compassion that was on display as educators, community members, businesses, restaurants, legal support systems, and yes even children came to the need of our brothers and sisters in Christ.
     To say it was amazing wouldn't do it justice, but the outpouring of contributions, donations, and volunteerism has been a point of pride during this moment in our community. It isn't a political thing, it is a human being thing, it is a Christian "thing" if you want to get right down to it. If you don't believe me go to the textbook of those of the faith and read the parable that Jesus shared in Matthew 25:31-46. In this parable, Jesus compares all people from all nations to sheep and goats. He goes on to explain that God will one day place the sheep in his right hand, and the goats will be placed on His left hand. For the ones on the right, His sheep, he will be able to identify them because they fed Him when He was hungry, gave Him something to drink when He was thirsty, and provided Him somewhere to stay when He was without a bed to sleep. The "sheep" will say to Him "When did I ever do this for you Oh Lord?" And here is where it gets interesting, Jesus will reply "When you did this for the least of mine, you did it for me." That is what I saw on display and am still seeing it this weekend as members of our community and other neighboring communities continue to pour out food, clothes, and other support items along with a generous amount of compassion for our fellow man.
     I'm not expecting some type of outpouring of donations due to this blog being posted. No instead I am hoping that you can feel a twinge of empathy for your fellow man and understand that doing something is what we are supposed to do. Giving your time, donating supplies, supporting those in need are all means by which you and I can share empathy for our fellow man, woman, and child. It is my prayer that you will be moved to share of your time and your resources. Oh, but what about the goats in the parable? At the end of the story Jesus shared that the goats, were the ones that didn't feed Him, clothe Him, or support Him in His time of need. This group was also oblivious and asked when did we not give to you? To which Jesus basically said, " When you didn't do that for the least of mine, you actually didn't do it for me."
Compassion is real when you pair it with empathy, not sympathy. Put yourself in the shoes of someone else. Thank you to each and every person that has contributed to the families of this event. As I stated before, we aren't talking about whether this is the right thing or not, that needs to be settled through our judicial, legislative, and executive branches of government, but the matter of what should we do to support our fellow man that answer is pretty simple and clear. If you are doing something to help the least of our ranks, you are hitting the target, do something today to help those that are in need.
Chuck