Maya Angelou said, “People may forget what you told them. They may even forget what you did for them. What they will never forget is how you made them feel.”
I wrote a blog post about two ½ years ago titled “Grace will Pull Up a Chair and Sit with You.” I had forgotten about it, but that title kept running through my mind as I was preparing for my Sunday talk at Unity of Gulfport yesterday. It was all about empathy and how we should act toward others when we see a need. We treat others as we want to be treated.
In the article, I mentioned In her wildly successful book titled Daring Greatly,[i] Brené Brown shares a time in graduate school that made a lasting impression upon her. A professor had asked Brené to come to her office to go over an assignment. Brené felt intimidated and fearful of being criticized or ridiculed for her work, but instead the professor pulled up a chair beside her and offered helpful feedback. Rather than a judge, the professor turned out to be an ally.
In the article, I told of a short cruise I took. I had signed up for a half day event at Cozumel to see Mayan Ruins. There were possibly 12-18 of us on this little trek. As we arrived at the park, I noticed another older woman who appeared to be alone. We began walking the difficult trail with uneven rocks and she began to falter and looked panicked and fatigued. I suggested that we sit while the guide was pointing out features along the way, and it became clear that she would not be able to make the trek. Although I was interested in seeing the Mayan Ruins, it was clear to me that my role that day was to accompany this sweet lady back to the entry of the park. We waved the others onward, and slowly walked back, seated ourselves at a little round table and drank fresh bottles of lemonade. We exchanged names and where we lived, we talked, and laughed and had a lovely time. It came to me that this is Divine Grace, right here, right now. In our ordinary lives, grace extends a helping, loving hand and says, “Let us do this together.”[ii]
“Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.” is what the Master Yeshua left with us, yet we so often extend unkindness instead of grace. A hand up is a loving and kind gesture in whatever way we achieve it. Here is to love and empathy. With a heart full of love, Judy
[i] Daring Greatly, Brene Brown
[ii] https://soultosoul.blog/grace-will-pull-up-a-chair-and-sit-with-you/