“They had not understood the incident of the loaves. On the contrary, their hearts were hardened.”
Mark 6:52 (NAB)
I spent enough time taking Chicago public transportation during my youth and college years, to learn the lessons about the indifference of hardened hearts in a large, crowded city.
I used to take the public transit system to the University of Illinois Chicago campus every day. After school, I took another train from the college campus to downtown Chicago, where I worked part time in the Advertising department of a department store.
The trains were always crowded, but on a good day, I could be lucky enough to get a seat and sit down for the ride. Otherwise, I would have to stand in place and just hold on.
That particular train ride made some sharp turns while moving fast, and someone could easily lose their balance while standing.
One day, I got on the train and was fortunate enough to get a seat. The next few stops became increasingly crowded, and the train was soon full of people standing. An elderly man who was standing as the train made a sharp turn, suddenly fell down to his hands and knees. I saw him fall, but was not within immediate reach of him, since a crowd of people were between us. I naturally assumed that someone nearer to him would help him back on his feet.
While on his hands and knees, the man reached for a pole to hold on to, but each time he almost grabbed hold of it, the train turned again, and he fell back down. He was still on his hands and knees, as he tried once more, to grab hold of the nearby pole, but as he reached for it, the train made another sharp turn and he fell down again. Anyone who wasn’t reading or sleeping, was well aware of that poor man’s plight, but they all seemed to watch with indifference.
I imagine that anyone reading this, by now is wondering if anyone ever helped the man, and the answer is no, and not one word was ever spoken, neither by the man himself nor anyone around him. It was the strangest few minutes of silence that I had ever witnessed, which is why I still remember it so many years later.
After spending a few minutes on his hands and knees, with no help from anyone, the man was finally able to pull himself up to a standing position. It was the most vivid illustration of apathy, that I had ever seen.
I remember feeling sorry for the man as he struggled, but I resigned myself to being too far away to actually help him. I could and should have probably shouted out,
“Will someone please help him!”
But instead, I said and did nothing, hoping that someone else would. Apparently, everyone on the train was thinking the same way.
An attitude of indifference, numbs and hardens hearts, adopting an attitude of letting someone else take action. Even though I had a voice, I chose to remain silent.
In reflecting on that Chicago train incident, it reminds me of the Holocaust, and how easy it is to detach oneself from people in a crowd. European citizens watched in silence while a crowd of Jewish men, women and children were put on trains, and sent to death camps.
Jesus Himself suffered indifference and apathy during His trial and crucifixion. While most of His followers supported Him, He also had enemies who were enraged and wanted Him dead. Then there was the silent majority, who numbed themselves and didn’t care either way. When it comes to God or the suffering of human beings that He created, indifference becomes a poisonous apathy.
After my wake up call on that downtown train that day, I decided to become involved in an international Christian group that works on behalf of people suffering religious persecution in the world.
Mark wrote in today’s gospel verse that people disregarded the miracle of the multiplied loaves, and as a result, their “hearts were hardened.” In not appreciating the miracle of the loaves, the real problem was an indifference and apathy toward the needs of the crowd. Jesus always had compassion for the crowd, and He wants us to see Him as someone in that crowd.
I think of the miracles that could happen, if people like me on that train, had stepped into action on behalf of someone in the crowd.
Lord, help us to awaken to who you want us to see in the crowd around us. Remove indifference and apathy from our hearts and help us to act with compassion towards others. Amen
