What can we do to help one another?

Whatever you did for the least of My brothers and sisters, you did for Me. (Matthew 25:40)

Yesterday, I returned back from a trip to Haiti. I went down with a couple of other people to bring supplies, food, toiletries, and some medication especially antibiotics. The view of Port-a-Prince is one of crumbled buildings and twisted steel. People were living where their houses used to be located. They protected what little they had and worked to make a meager living to support their families. You would think that this would be terribly depressing. You would think that the people would be in a constant state of despair.
However, that is not what I saw. There were children playing and laughing. Mothers and fathers were looking lovingly at their children as they try to teach them the lessons of life. There was singing and dancing and eating and talking among the people living in the rubble. There were also colorful signs on walls, cars, and busses, thanking God for his gift of life. They were happy to be alive and to be surrounded by friends and family. They were grateful to us for what we brought to them. However, we were not the source of their joy. God was their source of joy.
This was a great example of understanding what is really important in life. God provides us with what we need. That is not to say that we should not help one another. We need to help one another and be present to one another during times of disaster. However lots of things do not create joy, sometimes they cause just the opposite. The best way to help others is to be the face of God for one another. Food, clothing and shelter are important to life, but what is most important, is that we have enough, not that we have an overabundance. We must ask God to "give us this day our daily bread" and be happy to have enough.
So, I guess Haiti has taught me a lesson. I have an overabundance of lots of things. I need to just have enough, which will allow me to share my abundance with others so that they may have enough. I ask God for help in order to do this.

Peace and love,

Sue

"Then Jesus said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me". (Luke 9:23)