Friday, November 18, 2011

Learning About Love

Visit with the American Heart and Stroke Association  Nov 12, 2011, Saturday.


God tells us that one of the things he wants us to understand is the importance of loving one another.  In John 13:34-35, Jesus tells his disciples, "A new command I give you:  Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." 

Love one another seems so easy.  It goes without saying that we will love one another ... I thought. 

For the last 4 weeks I go to the American Heart and Stroke Association every Saturday morning to receive training so that I can go to hospitals and speak to heart or stroke victims.
I always think that I love every one of the people who have volunteered to learn and go to hospitals.  I have not really talked to any of them.  We usually sit down and learn.  People volunteer information about out learning, but I stay quiet and listen.  Bill is always there with me.  I began to recognize that his presence gives me courage just to go there.  Last Saturday I had to go by myself.  Of course, I felt a little ill at ease, but I felt everything would be fine when I got there.  And, it was not until the leader announced that we would be going in groups of two this time instead of staying at out tables.  One person would pretend to have had a stroke and the other would be the one who came to visit.  Real fear gripped me.  I was afraid to play either part in the "role play" and afraid I could not remember the words to say.  I also realized that I was afraid of the people who were stroke survivors.  For the first time, I realized I did not include myself as a stroke survivor when I visited this group.  I have always seen myself a normal.  Some of them had serious problems, legs that walked with canes, their speech was spoken in broken words, and arms or hands did not function well.  I had felt sorry for them, and always been lovingly sympathetic toward them on every Saturday visit, but I didn't love them like Jesus said to Love.  I knew that right way when I sit down with a small group and asked if I could just watch as they role played.

I looked around as others found their places.  Carol Ann, one of the instructors, joined the group at my table, now three who have had a stroke and a woman who cares for her mother, who has also had a stroke.  Carol Ann said she would play the part of a person who is in the hospital and has had a stroke.  She handed us a paper and asked one of us to read the scenario on the paper for the stroke victim so that we had an idea of what we might want to say and how we would handle any thing that might happen as we visit.  (Of course, I was not going to read.  Everyone would know what a poor reader I was if I read ... do you hear pride.)  A very pretty young lady picked up the page and began to read.  She read one word at a time, slowly, and sometimes reading the syllables to get the whole word. She kept going even when she made a mistake.  Tears began to roll from my eyes and down my cheeks.  She stopped, "That's enough," she said, and handed the page to another reader. 

Overwhelmed, I reached across the table and put my hand on hers, "That was wonderful!  I would have not had the courage to read.  I never read when someone asks me too."

"Then," she said, "It's your turn to read."

"No, no! I don't read well," I smiled and answered quickly.

"We'll help you," came the response from my table.

I began to read.  I finished the outline.  If I was stuck on a word, they said it.  I loved them ... because they first loved me. 


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