Sometimes it all seems too much…all of the devastation, the hurt, the pain, the hate. It can all seem like just too much. When we look at the tragedy of what is happening in Texas, the amount of destruction is overwhelming. When we consider those who are starving all over the world (including right in our own part of the world)…when we think of the amount of people captured and imprisoned in the torment of human trafficking…when we see the amount of hate and despair all over our world…it just can all seem that the problems are insurmountable. It can easily cause us to not do anything for the problem of not knowing what to do. How can we make a difference when the problems are enormous? What will our small contribution do in the overall complexity of the problem? Since we don’t know what to do, we are frozen in fear and desperation. We long for God to act, yet we are not willing to move our own feet. We want to be the hands and feet of Christ, but we don’t know what that looks like in a world so in need. What do we do?
As a child of God, I am called to love others. If I love, then I cannot sit by and do nothing. I cannot watch all of the tragedy and sit by while others suffer. I cannot do NOTHING. My fears and my despair cannot trap me into a place of immobilization. I must love. And if I am to love, what does that look like? I think it is about loving just one. My response should be: In a world that is so in need, I will love just one more person. If I have a dollar above what I need, I send that dollar to someone who does not have…even if it is just one. If I can support a cause that is being good stewards and really reaching out, I do that. If I can provide for one missionary that is serving, I do it. If I can provide support for one child that is caught in a cycle of poverty, I do it. The point is not to allow the enormity of the problem to deter our ability to act in love. We are to love others…one at a time. When we offer our love to one other, it begins to spread. One at a time, we really can make a difference. It all starts with one…will you be the one? I will stand up and love…and I will love the next one….and the next…and the next. Love just one today.
SEEING THE EXTRAORDINARY 