“We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone.” ~ Ronald Reagan
There is so much sorrow in the world. There is so much need in the world as well. Sometimes, we look around and feel helpless. We feel powerless to do any good in a world that is so messed up.
We do not have to fix the whole world, though. That would be impossible. However, we can definitely help those we encounter in our day to day living. Our help may not have a global impact. But, our helping an individual changes that person’s world completely. Reagan reminded us of that when he said, “We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone.”
This, in many ways, was the motto of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. She did not set out to change the world. She set out to meet the needs of an individual. She saw a person dying alone and in the gutters of Calcutta. She brought that person in so that he could die with dignity. She saw another person starving. She brought that person in and fed her. She saw individual needs and did all that she could to give individual aid.
The reason that she did so was that she saw deeper than most people see. She did not see a beggar or a vagrant. She saw Jesus who dwelt in each of those people. She did everything that she could to meet the needs of her Jesus, whom she loved beyond compare. What a difference we could make in our world if we saw Jesus in the people we encounter on a daily basis.
We never seem to bother looking past the things that make us different: skin color, ethnicity, politics, et cetera. We focus on those accidental qualities instead of looking deeper. If we looked soul to soul we would see an entirely different reality. We would see the Lord.
Seeing the Lord, we would want nothing more than to meet His need.
FAITH ACTION: If the opportunity presents itself for you to help someone today, do so.