I think I said that once before, and nothing came of it. But I mean it this time.
If people want my prayer updates they can e-mail me or check out my missions page at ccob.org.
So, with that in mind, I shall commence to tell you all a story that will only get a short mention in my prayer update since it is of a rather odd nature.
I'm going to hazard a guess that most people outside of Japan are unfamiliar with what an onsen is. Onsen literally means hot spring, but the word implies a hot spring spa. In Japan onsens are (usually) segregated and the bathers stow their clothes in lockers, bathe in a shower area, and then go relax in shallow pools of warm water. People are not allowed to wear clothes of any sort into the pool/tub/shower area. People often go to relax after a hard day or hang out with friends.
For foreigners this can be a rather surprising experience, but for most Japanese people it is totally normal to go hang out naked in soothingly hot shallow pools.
I've been in Japan for a year and a half now, and it's become fairly normal for me as well. It's amazing how easy it is to get used to something if everyone else considers it normal.
Now, why did I tell you that? Because a rather interesting thing happened the last time I was at the onsen and if you don't know exactly what an onsen is, the story is still interesting but much less strange.
Well, I went the other night with my friends Erin and Yuki, and our new friend Sharona. When I first walked into the bathing area I noticed an old woman lying in one of the very shallow pools, her head resting on the edge and her eyes closed. I thought to myself "heh, she looks REALLY relaxed. Like someone threw her there." and walked on past.
A few minutes later I joined Erin in the pool nearby and saw she was watching the old woman with concern. She asked if I thought the woman looked alright. Now, I didn't want to stare. If you think staring is rude in public, just think how strange it is in an onsen. But I looked and saw the woman hadn't moved at all in the past few minutes, but was breathing. So I said "I'm sure she's fine." which in fact, I had no way of being sure, but I didn't want it to be my problem if something was wrong. The back of my brain knew something was wrong, because the woman had been the first thing I'd noticed when I walked in, but I ignored that. The onsen was very crowded that evening and I made the mental excuse of "if something is wrong, someone else will do something about it."
Erin, however, had been a nurse in a nursing home back in the US and could tell that the woman's breathing was labored and she didn't look good. So, being infinitely braver than I, she went over to ask the woman if she was alright. I tried to act casual as mental images of a startled old Japanese woman being woken from her nap by a strange foreigner kneeling next to her asking if she's ok filled my brain.
However. She was in fact, not ok. She was barely conscious and having trouble breathing. Erin came back over and stated loudly (so others would hear and possibly take action) that she was "not ok. " After saying it a couple times several ladies in the same pool leaned over and said (in English!) "she's not ok? She's not napping? Maybe we should go get someone."
In the next few minutes, one lady went to get an attendant and another who spoke very good English followed Erin and I over to the old lady where we held her up out of the water while Erin checked her pulse. She was mumbling a bit, very weakly and we couldn't make out any words.
Meanwhile everyone else went back to ignoring the situation. A minute later an attendant came over, was told to call an ambulance (incidentally the emergency number in Tokyo is 119) and went to do that. The ambulance seemed to take forever to arrive.
In the meantime we lifted the still mostly unresponsive old lady out of the water and kept her sitting up so she could breathe easier. She was foaming at the mouth a bit (not in a raving lunatic kind of way mind) and her hands were kind of purpley due (I'm told) to not getting proper circulation. A couple attendants fluttered rather uselessly (no fault to them, I'd have fluttered uselessly if Erin hadn't told me what to do to help) and tried offering water or towels. Sharona sat nearby praying for the lady. Just as I was beginning to wonder both *when* the ambulance was going to finally arrive, and *what* I would do if a bunch of male paramedics stormed into the crowded onsen, the attendants insisted we move the old lady to the locker room. This was (rather unsafely) done, and a ta-da! privacy screen appeared out of nowhere. It was set up around the old lady who had been laid on the floor. By now she was recovering a bit and speaking, but was disoriented.
The paramedics FINALLY arrived - coming in through a side door I hadn't realized existed. Since a screen was set up, I didn't observe what happened after that, but I know they took the old woman away and apparently she had asked the attendats to tell us thank you (which, later, they did).
We introduced ourselves to the Japanese lady who had been kind enough to translate the instructions Erin had been giving throughout this whole thing, and then since the excitement was over, we went back to "relaxing."
And THAT is my onsen story.
It has made me think about several things.
I realized that need to work on being braver and less selfish. I was totally willing to ignore a situation that might have been (and, it turned out, was) dangerous to a person's health, simply because I didn't want to risk embarrassment in the offchance she was ok. I was more concerned with remaining inconspicuous and unembarrassed than I was with making sure a person was not in danger.
As a Christian I have been directly taught by Jesus that I should love others as myself - this means not putting my own fears before someone else's wellbeing. If this had been the parable of the good samaritan I'd have been the Levite or the priest. Yes, I helped, but only once someone else had taken the first step. Had I been alone, I wouldn't have moved.
As a Christian, I need to realize there is no such thing as "somebody else's problem" when it comes to a person in need. It is very easy to convince ourselves that someone else will deal with it, or even that 'oh I couldn't do anything to help even if I tried.' But that is not an ok attitude for a Christian. We need to step out and risk possibly being embarrassed when there isn't actually anything wrong with the old naked lady in the pool.
This time I was with someone willing to be brave. But next time I might not be - and I'll have to be the brave one. And I will.
The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."
Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."
(Luke 10:36-37)
1 comment :
First, it's good to hear from you, Az. :-)
Second, kudos to you and your friend for your bravery. Americans, I'm sad to say, would have likely reacted differently.
Glad you're well, and doing good works!
Barky
Post a Comment