November 13, 2009

A Lesson in Compassion ²

by Wendy • 2009: Reflection & Inspiration, featured, Firehouse Jargen, Headline

As first responders, emergency workers and chaplains, it is our first instinct to want to help when a tragedy or disaster occurs. Something stirs inside each of us and we can’t seem to calm ourselves until we have assisted in relief efforts. This reaction held true when Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast. With over 92,000 square miles of devastation, our hearts broke for those who were deeply impacted by the storm.

For many of us, our first instinct was to pick up and run to one of those cities and help with rescue, recovery or whatever job was available. Some did respond to New Orleans or Biloxi or other towns. Others stayed back and assisted the evacuees as they streamed into our cities looking for shelter, food and compassion.

I felt the initial restlessness of the desire to help when I saw the scenes of devastation being played out on television. Because the City of Houston became a major destination point for many of the evacuees from Louisiana, there were plenty of opportunities to put that restless energy to good use. When the call for volunteers was put out, I chose to work at the Astrodome. I spent 12 hours one afternoon working in the Psych. Unit of the hospital facility that had been set up within the Astrodome complex. Most of the patients that we saw were individuals overwhelmingly distressed by their losses. Many had become separated from loved ones. All of them had lost their homes. While I was deeply saddened and moved by their stories, I didn’t understand the depth of their grief and pain. I had not walked any amount of distance in their shoes.

Several days later, I had the incredible opportunity and honor to go to Baton Rouge and New Orleans and work with the emergency workers that were there. The experiences I had, the stories I heard and the sights I saw were seared into my heart and my mind. The heavy emotions I felt for these individuals while working at the Astrodome were almost doubled when I actually came into contact with the scenes that I saw on the television. But still, even walking among the ruins I had no real understanding of the true depth of what these people were going through.

Within just a few days of returning home from New Orleans, I learned that Hurricane Rita was heading toward Houston. I live in one of the flood/storm surge zones that would be affected if a category 4 or 5 were to hit the Galveston/Houston area. All of a sudden I was hit with the prospect that what I saw at the Astrodome and in Louisiana could happen to my family and to me. Helplessness, fear and uncertainty plagued me as I remembered those images of distressed individuals, houses being pushed into the middle of the road and cars tossed into trees. I kept thinking, “If this hits us, where are we going to live? How are we going to function without our things? Where are we going to find food to eat and water to drink?” It was very distressing to imagine my home being wiped away and losing everything. For the first time, I was actually getting a glimpse into the lives of the individuals that I had been assisting. I felt just a little bit of what they were feeling. Suddenly my compassion deepened and my understanding of their situation cleared a little more.

Thankfully, our area escaped the wrath of Rita. We were spared our home and all of our possessions. However, friends of mine didn’t quite fair as well. Cities and towns closer to Houston were affected and more of Louisiana was devastated. Some of those areas were hit twice. Now, as a fellow chaplain and I prepare to go to a small town in Louisiana to help over the Thanksgiving holiday, I thank the Lord that He allowed me to go through the experiences of Rita. I am grateful that I was allowed to feel some of the emotions that these people have felt. In 2 Corinthians 1:4, Paul writes, ‘He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.’ The comfort and the compassion that God gave to me through friends and family members, through scripture reading, and through prayer was a lesson for me on how I am to comfort and show compassion to others. Going through the experience of Rita allows me to serve with a deeper understanding and with more compassion. It allows me to relate to them a little more. The greatest blessing I received this year was the lesson in compassion that I believe the Lord has taught to me.

So I end this postwith this: remember in your suffering that you might be able to use your experiences to help or to relate with others later in life. Take your suffering and use it to help another, especially in the area of compassion and comfort.