But the Greatest of These Is Love

It was a muggy day in the clinic in Guatemala.

My calves and feet were aching from standing.

My brain was tired of interpreting.

I felt that if I had to give the speech about having high blood pressure one more time, my brain would collapse. What kept me going was holding the precious little babies the mothers would bring in to see the doctor.

This made the mission trip all worthwhile.

I would make the babies laugh and giggle.

Then he came in. I smelled him before I saw him.

I was reminded of why I had decided to be a teacher and not a health-care professional. Flies swarmed about his head. He was filthy, emaciated, and disoriented. A horrible stench emitted from his mouth.

To make matters worse, while he was in the waiting area, he urinated on the chair in our clinic. When the time came for us to wait on him, I am ashamed to say that I backed away from him. I felt terrible. What would Jesus have done? He would have greeted him warmly and asked him how he was doing.

Seeing as he was more in need than many other people we had that day, Jesus might have even spent more time with him instead of rushing him off as I had. We sent him away with several medications, and I forced a feeble, “Que Dios le bendiga (God bless you).” I felt like a phony. If I meant what I had just said, I could have at least conjured up a genuine smile. But I didn’t. I was just glad that he was gone.

I was not looking forward to cleaning up the mess he had left behind. This experience got me thinking. The Bible tells us that we are not going the extra mile like Christ would have us do if we love only those who are easy to love.

It is only in loving those who are difficult to love that we are fulfilling the command to love your neighbor as yourself.

I pray that I will have more of the Holy Spirit in my life so that I can love everyone that I meet, no matter how hard they are to love.

Mary C. D. Johnson