Is compassion in your blind spot?

Every driver can attest to an amazing — and dangerous — experience: that of getting another driver in their “blind spot.”

That’s when another vehicle aligns themselves in such a way that the driver cannot see them in any of his mirrors. Unless he turns his head to check traffic, the other vehicle will go unnoticed, which could be a danger should the driver decide to change lanes.

We often allow people to fall into our “relational blind spot,” that place where we just miss seeing what someone else is going through. Treehugger.com, a “better living and better health” blog, reports a story that exemplifies how the experience of others can get into our blind spot …

Hospitals are notorious for having awful food, which makes no sense when you consider they’re in the business of healing people, and food is one of the most effective tools for doing so. Change is slow to come about, despite patients’ complaints about poor taste, horrid texture, and empty nutrition.

In Canada’s capital city, however, things will hopefully improve more quickly. In an unusual display of leadership, the managers of the Ottawa General Hospital spent one week eating hospital food, three meals a day. At the end of the week, they all agreed that a major shift is needed.

The blogger concluded with this: “We all have blind spots in our compassion. In many cases, they are due to a lack of personal experience, which leaves us unable to relate to those in need. The best cure is to get out of our own comfort zone and walk a mile in their shoes, or in this case, eat for a week at their table. It’s amazing how our perspective changes when we simply place ourselves in the circumstances of someone else.”

Jesus didn’t have any blind spots when it came to compassion for others, and He instructs us to be thoughtful of others so we don’t overlook them: “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets,” Matthew 7:12.

The Apostle Paul echoes this need for having an awareness and care for others: “Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too,” Philippians 2:3-4.

Are there people coasting along in your blind spot, people whose needs you fail to understand or care about? What can you do today to change that?

Scotty