Turning the Other Cheek

Sometimes people can be difficult.  Sometimes they can be downright obnoxious and offensive and mean.  You see this a lot in situations where peer pressure doesn't dictate that you be treated with a certain level of politeness that is generally the social norm: namely, customer service.  Waitresses, you know what I'm talking about!  Nurses, we get the double dose.

Being sick strips people of the usual pressure they feel to behave a certain way.  You feel justified in being short tempered or down right rude.  You feel that it is okay for you to vent your worry and frustration by being mean to the people who are trying to help you.  I have never in any circumstance of my life been treated as badly as I have been as a nurse by my patients.  And I did a fair share of waitressing.

Sometimes it's easier to shake it off. Sometimes it makes my blood boil.  Last week I had a patient who had no end of edgy, sarcastic, pointed responses to every question or offer I made her.  I had started the day with determination to be extra kind to my patients, and right off the bat, she was seriously testing that resolve.  I could almost physically feel the ball of snarky comments I wanted to fire back bubbling in my throat, to try and show her how rude she was being.   Although I resisted, my desire to give her exemplary care certainly dissolved. Do the bare minimum, get her out of here. Hope someone else answers her call light first.

After having this unpleasant woman for a few hours, I started thinking about that statement of Jesus to turn the other cheek. "If someone hits you on the left cheek, turn to him the other also." I have never been physically struck in the face (yet).  But I have been verbally assaulted countless times in this not so romantic business of caring for the sick.  So what would it look like for me to be a nurse who 'turns the other cheek'?  I guess it means not responding in kind.  It's how I respond that matters to God. Someone being rude and unkind does not give me a free pass to be rude and unkind.  I don't get to decide to not be merciful to someone just because they really get under my skin.

And you never know.  You can't see into people's hearts and lives. Maybe your kindness in response to their rudeness is just the catalyst needed for the seed of God's grace to take root in their heart.  Because isn't that the gospel in a nutshell? We who were hostile towards God are brought into relationship with Him by His own gift of love in the person of Jesus and His sacrifice.  I hope that I will more often remember the gospel and live it out in the way I respond to hostile patients.