The gift of being “merciful”
There were a number of instances, particularly in my early life, where I can look back on, or people pointed out to me, that I had been used by God to show kindness or that my own desire when I saw someone in difficulty was to help them if I could.
Some examples:
1956 – Being led to people in distress –eg. Mrs Evans.
I was about 4 years old and my memory is faded but I do remember Mrs. Evans who lived a little bit along the road and I remembering riding my tricycle to go to see her and was invited in to eat cake and to play card games. These days the safeguarding bods would be in shock and horror! But at that time it wasn’t abnormal and certainly didn’t seem so to me
It was only years later that my mum told me that Mrs. Evans had been going through a difficult time of life and my visits made her feel better. My mum said “it was amazing that a small boy would be sent in this way”. It made me aware that maybe I was listening to God even if I didn’t realise it.
1972 – Volunteered to work with LIFCU and overseas students.
As a student the Christian Union ran events to welcome and help overseas students, many of whom had not been to the UK before and didn’t know the culture or practical things like how to open a bank account. I volunteered to help with this even though I don’t think I really had the skills.
However I felt myself drawn to the “odd” people, the outsiders. On one occasion I spent the evening talking to an American guy who was fairly disruptive in a group, mainly by dominating the conversation. To my surprise, the organiser thanked me for “looking after” him. I hadn’t seen it that way at all.
1975 – LBC conference – “protected ears”
In the years after starting work, I went to a Charismatic conference at the London Bible College. During a talk, the speaker described different kinds of people. One of those was someone who listened to others and empathise. This person was described as having “protected ears” so that they could do this without being overloaded themselves.
That resonated with me and, although my ears do not always feel protected, I still believe that this matches my personality.
1976 – More being drawn to people in distress of various sorts
At about the same time, I found myself in situations where I was talking to people in difficulty or distress. For example, there was Martin who was psychotic and misunderstood by the church we both attended at the time. There was a drunk guy who I met on the way home after an evening out. He was distressed that his daughter had been victim of a sexual assault and that the police hadn’t listened. The next morning the guy and his daughter came to where I was staying and thanked me.
The guy across the hall in the bed-sit I was staying in was having mental problems, fuelled by past marijuana use. When I realised this my reaction was to knock on his door and try to befriend him.