Who Cares?
On our way home from the grocery store, I observed two teenage boys on the sidewalk who were fighting. There was only one skateboard, and the big kid kept pushing the smaller one down into the ditch. “Were those boys fighting?” I asked my wife as we drove by.
“I don’t know,” she answered. “I did not see them.” Noticing the concern on my face, she said, “Turn around and go back.”
As we approached the kids, it became obvious they were fighting. I stopped the car beside them and was about to get out and separate them. Before I could get out of the car, my wife rolled down her window and in her most authoritative voice said, “You boys stop fighting and go home!”
Quite shocked one boy asked, “Who are you?”
“It doesn’t matter who I am,” my wife answered, then repeated, “Stop fighting and go home before someone gets hurt.”
“You’re not supposed to care,” one boy said.
Well, I do care.”
We watched as they gathered their belongings and were leaving, presumably to go home. At the corner one of them turned around and said, “He’s my brother!” Without realizing it, these two boys had just made some interesting commentaries on humanity.
“You are not supposed to care!” Indeed, it is easy not to care. For a few seconds I debated whether or not to interfere in the fight. Kids fight all the time, don’t they? Then I thought, “That big kid is picking on the little one,” and I decided I could not let that go. To care means you have to get involved; we turned around and went back. Often, we’d rather not be involved. Sometimes we humans stand back and watch people in distress but do nothing because we don’t care enough to get involved.
“He’s my brother!” the boy shouted. That should make a difference. You should treat your brother with love and kindness. If we can’t get along with our brother, then who can we get along with? You realize, don’t you, that we are all brothers and sisters. We are all God’s children, and that makes us brothers and sisters.
The first comment the boys made was wrong, “You are not supposed to care.” We are supposed to care. The second comment they made was right, “He’s my brother.” Yes, and that is precisely why we care.
