RECOGNIZE GOD IN YOUR ORDINARY MOMENTS
I would like to think that most people in the world would help someone who was suffering if they had the chance. I guess my optimism starts to take a hit when I consider that in some cases the cost will be higher for that help than in others. To help someone with a meal or transport someone to a doctor is one thing. To offer oneself completely, all of one’s money or time, is quite another.
Of course, there have been famous examples of this type of giving. The recently canonized St. Teresa of Kolkata comes to mind. But I personally know of others who have given everything for another. Friends who have adopted an older child, gone to live as missionaries in a far off land, or added on to their house in order to care for an aging parent are all examples to me of those who answer the call without counting the cost.
I am not concerned with not being able to follow the examples of these stewardship heroes. What concerns me is becoming too comfortable and not noticing the Lazarus that may be in my midst. Living a life of Everyday Stewardship means not only answering the call when it is obvious and when we have the chance to truly do something amazing, but also when it is less obvious and the need not as easily noticeable. Who doesn’t want to help the starving child they see on a late night infomercial? But the sad reality is that sometimes there are children lying at our proverbial door that fail to gain our attention.
So, I pray to see with the eyes of Jesus. I ask that I may be ever more mindful of those in need who cross my path. I pray to see Jesus in them. I pray to be Jesus to them. I pray that I may answer the call.
Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS