Go Beyond

The story of Marie Joseph’s death is one of the most unbelievable and saddest news stories I have ever heard. Last Monday, this 36 year-old mother of five went to the community swimming pool in Falls River, Massachusetts to get a little relief from the summer heat. The pool was packed with people. At some point, a 9 year-old boy saw Marie going down a slide and into the water … but he never saw her resurface. So, the little boy told one of the six life-guards on duty but the life-guards failed to act. The following day the pool was once again packed with swimmers splashing about and enjoying the water. Then, late Tuesday night after the pool was closed, Marie Joseph’s body floated to the surface at the deep end of the pool.

It’s hard to imagine how a woman could drown in a public swimming pool packed with swimmers and go unnoticed for two days. Six trained life-guards, two teams of pool inspectors, and hundreds of swimmers failed to see Marie Joseph’s lifeless body lying at the bottom of the pool. Perhaps if the life-guard had acted on the word of the little boy who promptly reported his concern this story might have had a different ending. It appears that a combination of unfortunate factors and distractions converged to keep numerous people from noticing Marie Joseph. She died in plain sight and nobody noticed. That is sad, indeed.

Marie’s story reminds me of how easy it is to miss what lies beneath and to not see people clearly. Mark recorded an account of a miracle that Jesus performed in two stages (Mark 8:22-26). A blind man was brought to Jesus at Bethsaida. Jesus took the man aside, spit on his eyes and laid hands on him, and then asked him if he could see anything. The man replied that he could see men, but they looked like trees walking about — an indication that his sight was blurry. Jesus laid His hands on the man’s eyes a second time and, as a result, the man could finally see others clearly. Jesus could have healed the blind man with one touch but chose instead to touch the man’s eyes a second time. Perhaps He did so to remind us that insight often comes slowly.

It’s easy to be critical of the life-guards and the others who overlooked Marie Joseph. But the truth of the matter is that most of us move through life so fast or are so focused on other things that the people around us look blurry. We fail to notice the hurt or need that lies beneath the surface of their lives. However, unless we see people clearly, we will not be able to pray effectively or to act compassionately. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus told the story of an unfortunate traveler who was robbed, beaten, and left for dead (Luke 10:25-37). A priest and later a Levite “saw” the man lying helpless on the side of the road but did not stop to help. But when a despised Samaritan came down that same road, he “saw him” and “had compassion” and acted accordingly to help the unfortunate man. The Samaritan saw things clearly.

During the month of July, 454 Kingsland members will be on mission from Houston’s urban areas to the ends of the earth. My prayer is that each of these life-guards will ask God to help them clearly see the people they serve and to notice what lies beneath the surface of their lives. May we be sensitive to the pain lurking behind a smile, the despair peering out through empty eyes, hopes crushed beneath weights of cares, and all of the things that cause people to hurt and to long for rescue. As Mother Teresa challenged her Missionaries of Charity to do, may we look for Jesus in the distressing disguise of the poor and those in need. May God help us to see people clearly, to see what lies beneath the surface of their lives, and to act compassionately to rescue them before it’s too late.