"Yes, there is a feeling, arising even from another's distress, that wrings the human heart." – Euripides (from the play Electra, 420 B.C.E.)
Inside Euripides sentence (above) lies the core of loving care. God is Love. Human love is God-given.
Sometimes, we open our hearts to God's Love. We are most alone and fall away from God when we turn our backs on the distress of others.
As Paul Farmer wrote, "The idea that some lives matter less is the root of all that's wrong with the world."
Here is a strange tale of two clinics that illustrates this flaw in the human condition.
One of the faith-based charities in Nashville has two clinics in different parts of the city. While visiting one clinic, a colleague overheard a staff member say, "These poor people are driving me nuts. They are just so stupid." Her partner agreed. In that clinic, the staff arrives late and leaves early. According to interviews and observation, no one goes ever offers special help. And why would they since they think of their clientele as "stupid?"
Clients opening the door to this first clinic are not likely to receive loving care.
In the second office, the staff of the same charity is a model of loving care. Caregivers treat their economically poor clients with love and respect. It is common for caregivers to offer extra help and to stay late to do so. Morale is terrific.
Clients crossing the threshold of the second clinic are very likely to be treated with loving care.
The mission is the same for both offices. The difference in care is rooted in how the staff of each office views the people they are called to serve. One staff thinks their clients are "stupid" and "matter less" The second group of caregivers sees their clients as children of God.
The same dichotomy is common in numerous hospitals. It is startling to watch the range in caring attitudes from one floor to another, from one department to another, from one shift to another. Some caregivers allow God's light to shine through them. Others are so preoccupied with personal concerns that patients are seen as a bother.
The easiest way to guide organizations toward loving care is to engage loving leaders.The responsibility for this rests squarely on the shoulders of those who govern faith-based organizations.
For example, hospitals and hospices that display a cross are telling the public that their work is grounded in the example and teachings of Jesus. Don't patients have a right to expect Christian care from a Christian organization?
God's Love is perfect. We are not. But, we come closer to God when we respect the sick and let go of the pervasive idea that the lives of the poor somehow "matter less."
Since we are all children of God, don't we want our brothers and sisters to be treated with love no matter where they go for care?
-Erie Chapman
And something else for your reflection:
Journal of Sacred Work 
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