Instruments of Peace, Who Me? 7-4-2010

mike — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 16:27:00 +0000

Lord, we hear today that You sent many others out before us as instruments of Your peace, and I am told that You want all of us here to be instruments of Your peace; I am feeling a little overwhelmed by all of this and so I have to ask, where do we begin?
A woman was standing on a curb, waiting for the light to say WALK so that she could cross the street. Directly across from her on the opposite curb was a girl of about 17. She too was waiting for the light to say WALK so that she could cross the street.
The woman couldn’t help but notice that the girl was crying. In fact, her grief was so great that she made no effort to hide it. For a moment their eyes met. It was only a fleeting glance, but it was enough for the woman to see the terrible pain that filled the girl’s eyes. Then the girl looked away.
At that moment the light changed. Each stepped off the curb into the street and started across. As the girl approached, the woman could see that she was quite pretty, except for that terrible grief in her face. Just as they were about to meet, the woman’s motherly instincts came rushing to the surface. Every part of her wanted to reach out and comfort that girl. The desire was all the more great because the girl was about the same age as one of her own daughters.
But the woman passed her by. She didn’t even greet her. She just passed her by. Hours later the pain-filled eyes of that girl continued to haunt the woman. Over and over the woman said to herself, “Why didn’t I turn, fall in step with her, and say, ‘Can I help?’ But I didn’t. I walked on by. Sure, she might have rejected me and thought me a nosey person. But, so what! “Only a few seconds would have been lost, but those few seconds would have been enough to let her know that someone cared. But, instead, I walked on by. I acted as if she didn’t even exist.”
I have been reminded many times that a person in need does not always need a great expenditure of our energy, or our time, or our money. What they need most is a simple and sincere sign that we care.
Our Scriptures this week, last week and next week, do not invite us to go out, risk our lives, and become religious heroes or superstars; they invite us to reach out, risk our pride, and become humans; they invite us to ask sincerely, “Can I help?” Instruments of Your peace . . . “Can I help?” – that is where we begin.

FatherRon.com » 7-4-2010

Instruments of Peace, Who Me? 7-4-2010