Who cares?

Care assumes that there is a connection between people. This connection can be professional: someone is in need and appropriate help is send to help relieve that person of that need. The connection can also be personal, and in my line of work the personal connection buttresses the professional help we offer. I believe it’s the Jesus way. Jesus took an interest in the whole person. Yet, He also exercised another dynamic: prevention. His message was inclusive and in Him the office of the prophet, the healer and the priest merge into one. The model of our master is a model we should pursue, practice, develop and, most important, model ourselves.

Distance and Care creates a paradox. To practice Jesus’ model from a distance is a contradiction in terminus. I feel this is not just my struggle, but is a shared experience.

The challenge, not just in Member Care, but in life in general, is to find effective ways to overcome that distance. We all know that it’s not going to go away and we will need to work hard to maintain healthy relationships. Distance can be devastating for the ministry and especially our relationships. Jesus was aware of the “distance dynamic” in His life and ministry. He didn’t feel the same compassion for people when he was alone in His bedroom, or remote places, as what He felt when he saw the crowds. Only in the meeting of other people true compassion (can) kick in.

As I am suffering from some sort of general indifference (could have something to do with the life-span I am in) it's even harder to care. Too many people, too far away contributes to this. Yet there is also the factor of communication overload. I found that there are no easy solutions or quick fixes to this dilemma. De-friending people on facebook might help a little bit but there are deeper issues. The struggle if life with all its dissapointments can easily add to the growing emotional numbness. What does work though is to do what Jesus did: create opportunities to meet with real life people and hear their stories. If that doesn't result in compassion, we have a real problem and wouldn't know what to do with that. So far, so good though.

Merry X-mas.