Dear Friends And Gentle Hearts

On an icy January morning many years ago, a man was found collapsed and bleeding in a twenty-five-cent-a-night flophouse, the North American Hotel on the lower east side of Manhattan, New York. He had fallen and hit his head on a sink, shattering the porcelain, causing a severe laceration. Doctors sewed up the gash in his head as best they could, but the wound and the booze had taken their toll. Three nights later he died in his sleep. He was only 37 years old.

A nurse gathering his belongings found a dirty coat with a few personal belongings. In his worn leather wallet, there was found a scrap of paper on which was written, "Dear friends and gentle hearts", along with 38 cents in Civil War scrip and three pennies. Those five words seemed almost like the words of a song, she thought. And she was right. This poor man turned out to have been the songwriter who penned some of America’s most beloved music, including “Swanee River,” “Oh! Susanna,” “My Old Kentucky Home,” and hundreds more. He was Stephen Foster, considered by many to be the father of American music.

He wasn’t always down on his luck, an outcast. Like any derelict, he wasn’t always in that condition. He was once successful, full of promise and hope, happily married, creative and hard-working. But eventually, and way too early in life, he was cut down by the pruning knife of time. A few wrong choices, some unfortunate circumstances, plenty of unrealized dreams, no income from his life’s passion -- all led to the tragedy of an unfulfilled life.

How do we look at the down and out, the man or woman who has lost hope, the hurting and needy? Are we cold and aloof, judging that they brought it upon themselves? Do we think that if they only tried a little harder they could get out of the deep dark hole they got themselves into? Do we say “I’m too busy”, presuming that someone else will help them?

Jesus told the story of “The Good Samaritan” (Luke 10:25-37). A man was beaten, robbed, and left for dead on the Jericho Road. Two godly, respectable, honorable men came upon the beaten man. Certainly the priest or the Levite would be prompted by God’s love to help this man. But no, they walked right on by, crossing over to the sidewalk on the other side of the street to go around him. Then a Samaritan man happened by, a social outcast himself, a man despised by those to whom Jesus was telling the story. The Samaritan man stopped and gave first aid, transported the man into town, and paid for his medical care. Jesus then asked the legalist standing at the front of the crowd, the man who had prompted the story, to tell him which of the three was the “neighbor” to the injured man. He answered, “the one who acted in mercy.”

A friend is one who responds with a gentle heart and acts out of compassion. Dear friends and gentle hearts, let’s go and do likewise.

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27; Deut 6:5; Lev 19:18)