I am going to admit it. I am having a very disappointing day. I am sure that you have had at least one in your life and hopefully it has only been one. It started with something that happened yesterday which I am not proud of and it is an act that has made me extremely disappointed in myself. It happened in of all places the Adoration Chapel that I go to on Sundays. Well, about 15 minutes into my time at the chapel an older woman came in and sat down. She was well dressed, with her make up and hair done and was wearing nice jewelry and she seemed to be in her 70s, though these days who can tell how old anybody is? Well she was sitting in front of me and behind my Adoration mate. While in there she seemed to breath heavy, then it would pass and she would continue saying her rosary. She did it numerous times while sitting in there for probably about 25 minutes. From where I was I wanted to reach out to her. I wanted to just tap her on the shoulder and ask her if she was okay; if she wanted me to pray for her or someone she loved. Did she need a shoulder to cry on? But then, she would settle down and get back to the business of praying, so it occurred to me that maybe she was just struggling to catch her breath. If I had tapped her on the shoulder maybe I would have embarrassed her, that wouldn't be the first time I had done that. It bothered me. I could not concentrate on my own reason for being in there. Finally someone else came in the Chapel and sat on the other side and he smiled at all three of us when he came in. Shortly after that the woman finished her rosary and got up and left. When she was leaving I noticed that her eyes were, in fact, red rimmed and I was wracked with such a pang of guilt it practically left me breathless. Frankly I was shocked at my own behavior. It is not like me to ignore anybody, particularly someone who is crying and alone. Not my finest moment, but it passed and I said a prayer for her anyway.
Why do we do that? ABC has this show What Would You Do? It never ceases to amaze me how uninvolved people are when they see something. My son calls me the most opinionated person that he knows. Well I say et tu Brute' to him. If I see something I'm sure as heck going to say something. I have had Tom do things too when I couldn't; like the time we were in a teller drive-through and there was someone lying on the grassy knoll in front of us near the mall. I was horrified that the guy may be sick and insisted Tom get out of the car and check on the guy. I won't repeat what the guy told Tom, but he was a ok. Have we become that callous of a society that we just walk past and turn our heads when we see something that isn't right? I don't understand that behavior. I'm still scratching my head over not tapping someone on a shoulder just yesterday. I know New Yorkers, very well, and that is how we are often perceived and I am here to tell the world that you are dead wrong about us. Well mostly dead wrong.
I swear to God, next time I think I see someone crying, someone being wronged, someone being hurt, I am going to do what Jesus would want me to do and that is get involved. So watch out world! That tap on the shoulder could be from me.
Peace,
Mare
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