My Need to See Need

I am struck today by how much we have. There is so much food in my house, but I go to Walmart because we have "nothing" to eat. I stand in front of an open refrigerator and lament that there is "nothing" there. I even go to the store and struggle to find something appealing, and I am left wondering what's wrong with me. When and how did I get so spoiled?

I read a blog by the CEO of Harvest Hope food bank and was struck by her candor at our capacity for this kind of spoiled behavior. We all do it. We all think we don't have enough. We all think that if only we had, or we could, or we were, then we'd be ok. We'd then feel like it was enough. But that's so off base from truth.

Last Friday was my regular shift at Harvest Hope. For the last handful of months, I have been going regularly and doing intake for clients coming in to get food. I have seen all kinds of people, heard lots of stories. So much of what I see is pain. These precious people do not want to sit in a crowded waiting room for hours to wait for food. The vast majority have jobs and would like to either be at work or at home on a day off. I see people with many different disabilities and needs. People who care for aging parents. People with small children. Old people. Young people. They are all so different, but they share need.

And I sit across from them and listen. I try to be ever aware of the very full waiting room and move each client as quickly as I can while still making each one feel important and respected. I can tell that many of them are not accustomed to being looked in the eye. They avert my gaze and seem to not know what to do with the dignity I attempt to offer.

Some are ready to go and I try to get them out the door as quickly as possible. Others need to talk. That's what happened Friday. A lady who could have been my Mom's age sat across from me in tears. She said what I have often wondered if they think, "How did I get here?" She was lamenting her desire for more hours at work so that she could continue to care for an ailing uncle. She wanted to be able to serve other people, not receive service. She had a hard time wrapping her mind around sitting in front of me, waiting for her ticket, in need.

I took her hand, looked in her eyes, and reminded her that God sees her. She seemed to know that what I said was true, but she also seemed to need some encouragement. She just cried, and so I sat. I got to hear more about her life, her losses, her needs, her heart. I saw incredible beauty. She is the face of the struggling.

I share her story because I think we need to be reminded of the humanity of people in need. It is so easy to listen to all the political buzz words about the economy, letting the figures fly over our heads because they are too astronomical to comprehend. We listen to this side and that side, and we all have our opinions. But I just keep coming back to this lady. To these people.

I have seen so much, and I have not been at it very long. So many of those greatly valued souls in front of me are accustomed to being ignored. They are used to people not really seeing them. Being pushed aside, undervalued, unseen: this is part of life for them. But I am struck by Who does see them.

God in Heaven watches every one. He sees their emotional struggle to go and stand in line for hours to get a buggy of food. He sees the heartache at another job possibility slip away. He sees the dad who wants his kids to be proud of him, the grandmother who cares for her children and grandchildren because jobs are scarce, the child who wants to relieve the burden of his parents. He sees. And He cares.

And while my heart is always pulled to the extremity of the need across the waters of the Atlantic, reality cannot allow me to forget that there is need right here. And so I challenge myself, and you Fair Reader, to care more. We need to care more. We need to be careful to not allow politics to shroud our vision. We need to see those standing right in front of us.

And we need to see them for one very important reason: Jesus loves them, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones, to Him belong, they are weak but He is strong. Yes, Jesus loves them. Yes, Jesus loves them. Yes Jesus loves them, the Bible tells me so.

Here's the blog from Denise Holland, a servant much more equipped than I:
http://harvesthopefoodbank.blogspot.com/2009/11/ive-been-thinking-lot-about.html#comment-form