Help me to show your love

Lying at his door was a poor man . . . covered with sores.

Many drivers discover blind spots the hard way, by having an accident.   Driving instructors remind us that it’s not enough to check the mirrors in our car.   We also need to check our blind spots to make sure that there isn’t anything hidden from view.   They tell us that there’s only one way to be sure: “Turn your head.” It sounds obvious, but people who fail to turn their heads often pay the price.

The rich man in Scripture, he had a blind spot right by his front door.   Every day he walked in and out of his home, oblivious to the hungry beggar lying there.   Perhaps he saw Lazarus, but he never perceived him—never noticed his sores, never spoke to him, never looked him in the eye.   He probably never considered offering him food or nursing his wounds.   He was blind to Lazarus.

Like this rich man, we may have blind spots.   We may fail to notice people in need, even the ones right on our doorsteps.   It can be easy to miss them, even when they are right in front of us.   We are too busy, too tired, or too stressed.   So we walk right by.   Our “Lazarus” may be the homeless woman begging at the corner near our office.   He may be an anxious child or weary spouse in our own home.   He may be our neighbor getting his mail in slippers and bathrobe, hungover from the night before.   All these people need love, and God wants us to see them and take care of them.

Where do you start?   Take a lesson from the driving instructors: turn your head.   Pay attention to the people in your blind spots.   You can turn your head to sense their hunger, their loneliness, their weariness.   Turn your head to look them in the eye.   Take a chance by turning your head so that you can encounter a person with love.

Ask the Spirit today to shine light into your blind spots.   Ask him to show you who is lying by your door.   And when you see them, turn your head, look them in the eye, and treat them with love and dignity.

word among us