Blood Brother

A few weeks ago, I determined that if I were to watch anything on TV, it must at least leave me smarter than before. And seeing as I have already learned all that I possibly can from Frasier Crane and Ray Barone...  :)

I caught several interesting documentaries that week.

One in particular was "Blood Brother" on Netflix.  http://www.bloodbrotherfilm.com/

It features the story of a young man who discovers that he has a profound heart for the children in an HIV orphanage in India. And so he does whatever he can to stay there with them and care for them. 

So humbling. Encouraging. And convicting.

But, one statement in particular really caught my attention and stuck with me. He said ~ 

  "I could live in a nicer house... there's a lot of reasons why I don't do that. I think it creates a separation... Other people can't turn off their suffering or medicate their suffering with money. But, when you put those same standards on yourself, it almost forces your heart to change."

Wow. 

So true.

Rocky could, even in ministering to these people, place himself in a more comfortable situation than those he cares for. But, he doesn't. He keeps himself on the same level. In the same conditions. It matters for both he and the children that he do so. In that, I believe it reinforces that they are not simply charity, but his family. He is one of them. And, as such, truly understands their struggle.

How different would our lives look and others' look, if we lived by this example and more readily entered into the messiness of others' lives. And not merely gave from a place of our own comfort?