COMPASSION:
A group of kids went to watch a professional wrestling match at the invitation of one kids dad who is the manager of the arena where the match took place. Toward the end of the match, the kids dad asked if they’d like to meet one of the wrestlers. Without hesitation, they all enthusiastically said yes.
It was then that they were all taken down to an empty room to wait for a relatively new wrestler at the time named The UNDERTAKER. Also waiting in the room that day was a sickly, skinny, frail-looking nine year old boy sitting in a wheelchair with his mother standing by his side.
Before long, this giant of a man appeared in the doorway. It was The UNDERTAKER. He was big and he was mean looking, showing not even a hit of a smile. They say he was so big in fact that he had to duck to get through the frame of the door. Shortly after he entered the room, The UNDERTAKER spotted the little boy in the wheelchair and walked over to him. The boy slowly turned to look at this huge man and then quickly turned back to face forward. Suddenly, he started shaking, the chair squeaking to the rhythm of every movement.
Everyone in the room was silent, waiting to see what this wrestler was going to do. Knowing that this man made his money by projecting a fierce image, I imagine everyone was waiting to be entertained by him. I’m sure the kids who were there were all expecting him to speak to the little boy in an intimidating voice. They expected to be entertained and say something like, “I am the Undertaker and I will body slam you if you mess with me!!!!!” If he did this, everyone would have understood that this was the role he played and no one would have thought twice about it. No one except the little boy in the wheelchair. Had The UNDERTAKER done such a thing, there’s no telling how this frightened, sickly little child would have reacted.
However, as I understand it, The UNDERTAKER didn’t do this. Instead, he knelt down on one knee next to the boy, put his arm around him and snapped his fingers, having his manager bring over an UNDERTAKER T-shirt. The UNDERTAKER took the shirt, gently laid it on the boy’s chest, patted it down to smooth out any wrinkles and then patiently waited for him to react. The boy, however, could not stop shaking and soon the shirt folded from his chest down to his knees. The wrestler—contrary to his image—patiently and gently picked up the shirt, put it on the boy’s chest, patted it down and once again waited for the boy to react. All one could hear in that room was the squeaking of the wheelchair as the boy continued to shake.
Soon however, the little boy began to respond. He looked down at the t-shirt and then very slowly—reluctantly—turned his head to look at the UNDERTAKER. This huge, fierce looking man then smiled at the boy. The boy quickly turned his head forward, but then slowly turned back to look at the UNDERTAKER. Once again the UNDERTAKER smiled. With some hesitation at first, the boy forced a smile as his chair gradually stopped squeaking.
The UNDERTAKER, sensing the time was right, then gently pulled the little boy towards him and gave him a hug. Needless to say, the boy was in heaven. You could tell by the slight smile on his face that it had to be the most exciting thing that ever happened to him. Later surprised to learn that the thing the boys who were there was most impressed with was how gentle and completely out of character The UNDERTAKER was in interacting with that little boy.
My thoughts? “Sometimes you have to give up something in order to benefit someone else who is in need. For the UNDERTAKER, at that moment, for that boy, it was his image and fierce reputation. “I’m not a wrestling fan, but I have to say, I’m impressed with the man.
Speaking of sacrifice, the following 16 year old girl had other ideas for the class prom. Connecticut. Biggest dance of the year.
A 16 year old boy who has a rare form of dwarfism (he was a little over 3 feet tall and weighed only 42 pounds), asked a girl to go to the dance with him. The girl turned him down. Could the reason she turned him down be because her reputation or “image” was on the line? Maybe: maybe not.
Fact is, another girl, a very pretty girl who probably could have gone out with most any of the guys in her school, stepped up and told the boy she would go with him. Both went to the dance and had a good time. “It was the happiest day of my life,” the boy said. “it showed I was appreciated. I was really happy.” By his own admission, the boy doesn’t have very many friends, and considering the fact that the doctor only gives him maybe 10 or so more years to live, happy moments like this can’t come often enough. Thank goodness there are those teenagers, no, people in general; who are willing to sacrifice in order to better the lives of others.
Personal Note
Whether it be your time, or as in the case of The Undertaker, your Reputation, Compassion and Sacrifice are often inseparable. Sadly, there are too many teenagers and adults not willing to Sacrifice their Reputation, to show compassion to someone who is in need of some. For there are those in schools; the outcast, the lonely, the different, the weak, who are too often shunned by those who feel their Reputation is too important to Sacrifice.
“May God forgive them!”
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