adminGOOD SAMARITAN
A Sunday school teacher was telling her class the story of the Good Samaritan. She asked the class, “If you saw a person lying on the roadside, all wounded and bleeding, what would you do?” A thoughtful little girl broke the hushed silence, “I think I’d throw up.”
I love the current study many ladies from this area are taking in Grand Rapids. It is a study on the book of Esther, by Beth Moore. In week three she makes the following statement: “Let’s learn to be thankful every time we feel sorry for even our smallest offense toward someone.”
Have you ever thought about your conscience as a gift from God? The uncomfortable feelings we get when we have maligned someone or told a ‘white lie’ or angrily spoke out of turn is the very thing we are talking about. If we didn’t feel bad, our conscience would be seared and we would be in trouble.
We watch television programs where someone has committed a terrible atrocity but when caught and convicted, they sneer and are angrily plotting revenge. There is no remorse. What about the men who killed thousands such as Hitler in the 40’s? There was simple glee for every life destroyed – no sorrow evident. This is appalling to us and we would never want to be like that!
How can we protect and nurture this tender conscience that God placed in each of His children? If we want to protect our conscience, to begin with, we need to thank God for giving it to us. We need to ask Him to keep it tender – if it has been damaged, ask Him to restore it.
“People are like stained-glass windows.
They sparkle and shine when the sun is out,
but when the darkness sets in
their true beauty is revealed
only if there is light from within.”
-by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
If we want true inner beauty to shine out from within us, we must know that God of Love and have him within. As we walk with Him, our conscience is restored and developed. I received this poem through the e-mail. I don’t know the title or author for the poem, but it has quite a message for us to give us hope.
Whatever your cross,
Whatever your pain,
There will always be sunshine,
After the rain….
Perhaps you may stumble,
Perhaps even fall,
But God’s always ready,
To answer your call…
He knows every heartache,
Sees every tear,
A word from His lips,
Can calm every fear…
Your sorrows may linger,
Throughout the night,
But suddenly vanish,
In dawn’s early light…
The Savior is waiting,
Somewhere above,
To give you His grace,
And send you His love…
Whatever your cross,
Whatever your pain,
“God always sends rainbows ….
After the rain…”
I think one of the things that can really help us keep our conscience alive is to purposely strive to be a blessing to those around us. If we can work at serving and blessing, we will become more aware of the needs and pains of people and our conscience will become more increasingly tender.
CHANGED LIVES
By Tim Kimmel
“In 1921, Lewis Lawes became the warden at Sing Sing Prison. No prison was tougher than Sing Sing during that time. But when Warden Lawes retired some 20 years later that prison had become a humanitarian institution. Those who studied the system said credit for the change belonged to Lawes. But when he was asked about the transformation, here’s what he said: ‘I owe it all to my wonderful wife, Catherine, who is buried outside the prison walls.’
“Catherine Lawes was a young mother with three small children when her husband became the warden. Everybody warned her from the beginning that she should never set foot inside the prison walls, but that didn’t stop Catherine! When the first prison basketball game was held, she went . . . walking into the gym with her three beautiful kids and she sat in the stands with the inmates.
“Her attitude was: ‘My husband and I are going to take care of these men and I believe they will take care of me! I don’t have to worry!’
“She insisted on getting acquainted with them and their records. She discovered one convicted murderer was blind so she paid him a visit. Holding his hand in hers she said, ‘Do you read Braille?’
“’What’s Braille?’ he asked. Then she taught him how to read. Years later he would weep in love for her.
“Later, Catherine found a deaf-mute in prison. She went to school to learn how to use sign language. Many said that Catherine Lawes was the body of Jesus that came alive again in Sing Sing from 1921 to 1937.
“Then, she was killed in a car accident. The next morning Lewis Lawes didn’t come to work, so the acting warden took his place. It seemed almost instantly that the prison knew something was wrong.
“The following day, her body was resting in a casket in her home, three-quarters of a mile from the prison. As the acting warden took his early morning walk, he was shocked to see a large crowd of the toughest, hardest-looking criminals gathered like a herd of animals at the main gate. He came closer and noted tears of grief and sadness. He knew how much they loved Catherine. He turned and faced the men, ‘All right, men, you can go. Just be sure and check in tonight!’ Then he opened the gate and a parade of criminals walked, without a guard, the three-quarters of a mile to stand in line to pay their final respects to Catherine Lawes. And every one of them checked back in. Every one!
-Chicken soup for the Soul (Health Communications c1997) p.60-61