I Rediscovered Compassion in Condon.
The streets of Condon, Oregon are silent. The sun saying goodnight as it slips down over the grain elevators in the distance.
Every once in a while the quiet is interrupted by the occasional pickup truck cruising main-street.
Kathy and I sit outside The Historic Hotel Condon talking about nothing in particular when we see another couple on the street.
In a big city another couple on the street wouldn’t seem like a big deal. In Condon, life after 7pm is an event.
As the pair strolls by a comment is made, a conversation begins and within minutes a hush falls over the streets again.
The man is a local, the woman, someone he just met over the Internet. She is looking for John Wayne he just wanted someone in his life.
It didn’t take long for his story to take our breath away. Three weeks ago, his 23-year-old son, took his life. As the man recounted details his eyes watered and so did ours. There we are on the street, four people who don’t know each other but pain connects us in a way that only humans can be connected.
He talked of how the entire town of Condon had come out to help him through this horrible time in his life. One night 300 people showed up at the Elks Lodge just to let him know they were there for him. He smiled as he told of the chalkboard in the bathroom at the lodge that was filled with comments about his boy.
Kathy and I sat there and just listened and told him how sorry we are that such a tragic thing happened.
As the man and the woman walked away, hand in hand, we experienced something you just don’t see much anymore. As they passed the fire hall, friends met him in the street with a handshake and a hug.
I looked over at Kathy and saw tears running down her face.
God didn’t create us to live in a vacuum. He made us to connect and assemble and love each other. But how and when that happens doesn’t need to be planned or worked out. There is no such thing as “Going to Church.” We “are” the church so perhaps it’s time we act like it.
There is something we humans have that no other species has and I think it’s high time we begin to use it…..again.
Compassion.
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Amen
Just wondering if you could pass his name to me. Wondering if it was someone I knew. Thanks.
Just wondering if you could pass his name to me. Wondering if it was someone I knew. Thanks.