Dose of reality can open our eyes

Sometimes reality can smack you in the face and dish out an unbelievable wake-up call.

It can be something that actually happens to you or your family, or something you witness, read about, or maybe see on television.

The result is it makes you pause and consider that maybe you don't have it so bad.

Such was the case earlier this week in the newsroom. Saron United Church of Christ Pastor Mike Roth came in to visit with staff writer Timberly Ferree about his recent mission trip to Haiti. Mike and Timberly have a good relationship, and he shares with her a lot of stories about his trips.

I didn't actually hear Mike tell Timberly this story, but Timberly shared it with me later.

It was about a mother who had lost a portion of her leg during the massive earthquake in January, and she was ready to give birth when Mike was there. He told Timberly he has helped deliver babies in the past, but this one was different. She had the baby cesarean, and the only pain medicine available was one Advil.

One Advil!

That's like trying to fight a war with a BB gun.

Maybe the fact that the woman knew she was getting some kind of pain medicine was enough to calm her nerves.

Assistant Editor Nick Schneider's column on this page talks about people who like to complain. I wonder what kind of complaining would take place if we had to suffer through what this Haitian lady went through to bring another life into the world?

We need stories like this to bring us back down to earth, and realize that the reason we are here is not to compile a lot of material things. It's about being "the best possible version of ourselves."

That's a line from Matthew Kelly's book "Rediscovering Catholicism." Kelly's style is easy to understand, and answers a lot of questions about life in general.

Sometimes we make our everyday lives more difficult than they should be.

I hope the lady Mike helped with her C section and her child are doing OK.

And thanks to Mike for sharing his stories with Timberly so the newspaper can share them with others.

The Haitian mother may never know how many lives she touched by being so brave. But we can do our part by showing the same kind of Christian spirit to others.

Chris is the general manager/editor of the Greene County Daily World. He can be reached by telephone at 847-4487 or 1-800-947-4487.