A Christmas Eve “Life Lesson”
Last year, Christmas Eve was on Sunday. Something happened on that day that was both unusual and normal at the same time.
Just as the congregation where I worship was getting ready to partake of the Lord’s supper, I heard the sound of a helicopter. Since our church building is fairly close to one of the hospitals in our city and since we used to live just across the street from the church building, I knew what that sound meant. Somebody was being airlifted to a larger hospital in another location because of the seriousness of their condition.
In that moment, all kinds of things were happening. Christians were remembering the death of our Lord as the New Testament informs us we are to do each Lord’s day. Others were probably making plans for the holiday the next day. Children were probably already getting excited about a “secret visitor” that evening. The patient in the helicopter may have been in a fight for his or her life. Loved ones of the patient were probably as anxious as they’d ever been in their lives. The medical staff at the hospital and the crew on the helicopter were doing their best to perform their assigned tasks as well as they could. Countless others may have been driving to a destination, at work, and/or having a “normal day.”
I have thought a lot about that one moment ever since it happened just about a year ago. In some ways, I see it as a microcosm of our lives. There are unusual and normal things happening simultaneously all of the time. All sorts of emotions are being experienced at the same moment.
I may be grieving the loss of a loved one at the same time that a young couple is welcoming their firstborn child into the world. A person could have been notified that he or she is receiving a raise or promotion at work while somebody else is getting fired. The possible scenarios are almost, if not altogether, endless.
In addition to all of that, there were literally billions of people in the world who had no idea about what was going on last year at that hospital or church building. In fact, the vast majority of those billions have no idea about the location of the town where all of this took place.
I am not sure about all of the “life lessons” that could be gleaned from my experience a year ago, but there is one that I’ve thought about repeatedly. As I interact with people on a daily basis, I need to try to remember that I really have no idea about what is going on in their lives. That, in turn, should compel me to treat people with kindness and compassion. Since I don’t always fully understand why I do the things that I do or react in the ways that I react, I certainly cannot understand those things about other people.
If I could ever master that, I think I could be giving others a wonderful gift on a daily basis – not just during a particular season of the year.
AUTHOR: Jim Faughn
