Sometimes it seems as if we are surrounded by a sea of suffering.  Loneliness, anxiety, confusion, sickness and struggle force us to cry out in the words of Christ, “Father, why have You abandoned me?”  In this moment we are faced with a choice.  Our human nature seems to always desire pleasure and ease.  We all would like to recoil from the repugnance of suffering and difficulty.  The choice is to love or not to love in the face of suffering.  This choice is not made once in life.  It is made everyday.  It is made every time we are confronted with suffering and difficulty. 

 

     There is young lawyer named Rita who recently gave me a great example of loving in spite of hardship.  Rita was assigned the case of a man arrested on a warrant related to a petit larceny charge.  The case came in on the weekend.  She noticed her client, we will call him Joe, was not released on bail.  This indicated that he would spend the weekend in jail.  Rita herself was sick with a serious condition that requires surgery.  She was exhausted from the struggles of running her own law firm as well as fulfilling the duties of family life.  Still, she compassionately phoned the Sheriff’s Department.  The Sheriff on the other end of the phone commented, “How unusual for an attorney to call on a weekend!  Wow!  You must be really good or you must really care!”  He was stunned to learn that Rita would be visiting her client that very day.

 

     As Rita arrived at the Justice Center, she was told that Joe was in a special cell because he had threatened suicide.  The Sheriff led the way through a very large thick iron door that slammed shut as if it would never open again.  The young lawyer stood there in fear now locked between two thick iron doors waiting for the other to open.  As she stood there, she said, “God, I am so tired.  I have nothing left to give.”  At that moment she felt the presence of the Holy Spirit that sent chills through her body.  She knew she was right where God wanted her to be.  It was as if Jesus was whispering, “When I was in prison, you visited me.”

 

      The second iron door opened to a creepy corridor.  Watching intently so as to avoid getting lost, Rita made her way to a room where Joe was waiting for her.  Joe spoke quickly and nervously explaining that he had not used drugs for a year and he was trying to get his life together.  Rita asked him if he had threatened suicide.  Joe replied, “Yes.  No one would answer my calls and I thought that nobody cared.”  He continued to tell her that he was worried about his job.  He wanted to get out of jail because he loved his job and did not want to lose it.  Rita asked Joe where he worked.  Joe answered, “Burger King.”

 

     Moved with compassion, Rita attempted to contact the Judge, knowing it would be unlikely that she would reach him.  However, because of Rita’s character, the Judge favored her and accepted her call.  Joe was released that day.  He even kept his job at Burger King.  It turns out that the manager at Burger King liked Joe too.  Joe was so grateful because he knew that somebody cared.

 

There are many acceptable reasons why Rita could have ignored the cries of her brother in need.  She chose love.  She chose to love the suffering Christ in her brother.  This is especially beautiful because Rita looked beyond the cries of her own heart to reach out and let someone know that she cares.  Isn’t this just like Christ?  This story is the result of giving one’s heart to Jesus.  Shouldn’t we all do the same and give our hearts to Jesus?  Imagine the world we could have.