I needed to make a desperate run to the grocery. I was on my way home after a tiring Stephen Ministry visit with a terminally ill patient and his supportive but fearful wife. In addition my arthritis was acting up after walking the hallways of the local hospital, compounded by days of heavy rain and exhausting humidity.
As I was crossing the parking lot I saw a young boy, I’d say in his early teens, loading groceries into the trunk of a car. Nearby an elderly gentleman was sitting on a store provided motorized cart for the handicapped. As I approached them the man called out, “Do you need this cart?” What a blow! I must have looked mighty fatigued and walking much slower than normal.
It is refreshing however to come across someone willing to hold out a helping hand to a total stranger.
Read these words by the unknown author written in the Book of Hebrews,
“Keep on loving each other as brothers.
Do not forget to entertain strangers,
for by so doing some people have
entertained angels without knowing it.”
Hebrews 13: 1-2
Now I’m no angel, far from it, but the message is clear. Be friendly, considerate and helpful, striving to be Christ-like to all and God driven to those in need. Compassion for one another is portrayed time and time again in the Diary of the Father instructing us to lead a life of caring and love for all His children. We need look no further than the examples of Jesus as He tended to the poor, the needy and the sick. If only we could be as comforting.
Paul certainly understood this as he opened his letter to the Church in Corinth,
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,
who comforts us in our troubles,
so that we can comfort those in any trouble
with the comfort we ourselves received from God.”
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
It all begins with a small step of kindness.
It doesn’t hurt, I promise.
3 John 1:5
Manna and Coffee 