Helping Hands

I read an article from the Associated Press last night that broke my heart.(I know it is shocking to think that I started crying while reading yet another news piece.) But this really got me. It was about Haiti and that 6 months post-earthquake you still have thousands upon thousands of people who are homeless, hungry, and hopeless.

Here is the article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38184951/ns/world_news-americas

The immediate feeling of my heart is that I want to get on a plane and go help these people. And then the thought comes to me, that there are people all around me in my own community, in my own state, that are in need as well.

It is more than my mind can process to think that this is going on in the world. The suffering...The lacking...The need...

The headlines are covered with the latest NBA news of who is signing with what team and for what astronomical dollar amount. Frankly, it is disgusting. It sickens me to think that we are paying guys tens of millions of dollars a season to bounce a basketball. It is no different in any other sport. Millions of dollars are tossed around and used to purchase fancy sports cars and palatial homes and unnecessary odds and ends like $500 thousand dollar jewelry.

It just doesn't seem right to me. It doesn't seem right that this kind of money and spending can go on and there are homeless shelters and food pantries and schools that are all having to close their doors because there just isn't enough funding.

There is need all around us. There are countless opportunities to give and serve and bless lives. And no, we all don't have large amounts of money to donate, but we can donate our time. Time to causes like Habitat For Humanity. www.habitat.org Or to the local Food Bank.

So no, we might not be able to help everyone, but we can help someone. Start in your own community. I love the saying, "Think global, act local." As we act locally, we make this world a bit better one community at a time, which in turn makes this world a better place.

You can make a difference, all you have to do is act...

The Good Samaritan

So here it is Sunday. Sunday is go-to-Church-day. And so I feel like I should offer a more spiritual note for this evening...

I've been thinking a lot about a VERY disturbing story I read this last week. It was about the man who was stabbed and died in the streets of New York City, as he was trying to rescue a woman who was being attacked. He stepped in and was stabbed. He fell to the sidewalk and was bleeding. The most disturbing thing about this, is that 20+ people walked past him and none, NOT ONE, stopped to help him. One man lifted his head up and saw blood and then dropped his head back down and continued on his way. Someone else stopped only to take pictures with their cell phone. It was an hour and twenty minutes before help arrived, and by that time it was too late.

I cannot begin to say how this just tore my heart up. How could one person, let alone 20 people, walk on past this dying man and do nothing to help?! I don't understand.

I've thought about this story every day since I read it. And as I've thought about it, I began to make a 'spiritual application.' I thought about all of the people we know in our lives, that are struggling. That are spiritual dying. Do we notice? Do we stop and help? Or do we just walk on by? There are so many people that we come in contact with on a daily basis that are in need of us. Of our friendship, or our love, or our faith. Do we offer these things to them?

There is the story of the Good Samaritan, that so many of us are familiar with. The man stopped to help. He saw the need before him, and he acted. It was a total stranger he was helping, but he freely gave of himself, his time, his compassion, and he even gave monetarily to make sure the man in need was properly taken care of after he left. How amazing. How many of us would, or do, the same thing?

I also think of Jesus when He was in the Garden of Gethsemane. As He was about to be arrested and the little scuffle ensued, and Peter cut off Malcus' ear. Amidst the commotion of it all, Jesus noticed that there was a need for His healing. He quietly and unassumingly restored the ear. He was aware and noticed a need, and acted... So I am committing to being more aware. More aware of the people around me and their needs. More aware of the countless opportunities I have each and every day to help someone in need. I pray I don't ever just walk on past another who needs my help...