The young lady I saw at the gym yesterday seemed to be enjoying a routine workout. I smiled at her and said “Hi” as our paths crossed moving from one exercise machine to another. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary as I saw her a couple of minutes later sitting at a machine and staring at the floor. “She’s just resting”, I thought. “People do it all the time.”

The next thing I knew, a trainer was running toward her. The young lady was having some sort of physical difficulty. The staff questioned her about what she had for breakfast, and they brought her some juice to drink. After just a few minutes, she was feeling much better, and said she was going to get something to eat.

I apologized to her as she left, explaining that I didn’t notice she was having trouble.

It seems that we all too often fail to notice those who are hurting, suffering from some kind of physical, spiritual or emotional need. It’s easy to become like the priest and Levite of Luke 10, rather than the Good Samaritan. Let’s all try to do a better job of noticing the needy.