I had reason to visit in a hospital setting a few days ago. Hospitals are usually busy places. To the untrained eye, it appears as though there is nothing but chaos going on, but actually it's organized chaos at worst and planned movement at best ... and the faces one sees (and the stories that each could tell) are as varied as there are grains of sand on a seashore.
As I walked through the exterior doors, the first people I saw appeared to have things relatively under control. They were moving to and fro along the entrance corridor, some to the nearby coffee shop, others to the gift shop. Some were waiting for their rides to arrive, and others were just arriving and looking for directions to the department or person who could best answer their querries.
As I moved deeper into the building, I met other people who were obviously waiting to speak to someone at an admission desk, and yet others who had already passed through the initial triage and were now awaiting their turn to speak to a doctor or other medical professional.
Considering how many people I sometimes meet outside a hospital setting, these were a relatively small number, yet these were all here for some reason or other. How many, I wonder, who fly through daily life with little or no thought for the medical professionals who are within this building (and others like it) may one day need their services? How many other such professions go seemingly unnoticed until a need is perceived? In a consumerist society, this reality would appear to be more and more evident.
What about those who need the doctors but don't realize their need? How many of the people we meet today are already experiencing the beginnings of physical need, even if they aren't aware of it yet. How many others need a doctor of another kind? When Jesus encountered Matthew, and invited himself to dinner, did he know that he would find himself surrounded with others of Matthew's friends?
On more than one occasion, He found himself in such situations (or perhaps he purposefully put himself in such surroundings). It's funny how we often will choose to hang out with others with whom we are comfortable: we call these people friends, but Jesus challenges us at times to seek out the ones who need us, and these are often the ones who make us uncomfortable. We never know the effect that our words will have on an innocent listener, or on a casual bystander. Perhaps we might even effect some unexpected healing of mind or heart ... just by taking the time to be present to another.
Who needs the doctor?
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