I saw beauty today.
It was simple and understated, and it overwhelmed my spirit.
Our family was sitting in the very back of the church and those seats give you an uncommon view. I had a lapful of wiggling boy and Adam was sitting beside me with the same. It was time for communion to be served and I was encouraging my little one to sit quietly and be still (quite a task). When I looked up I saw a teenage boy, tall and strong, bent over a bit uncomfortably to serve someone in the seat. Something about his posture caught my attention and I wondered why he was reaching out so far to hand the tray. I realized the boy wasn’t passing the tray, instead he was holding a cup to the man’s mouth so he could take it. This man is not any man. He is special in so many ways. He is a gentle giant. He loves with a genuine adoration and simplicity that is almost childlike. I envy him in many ways. His life is not easy. He shakes very badly at times and I would imagine it is difficult for him to receive communion without spilling it on himself and his clothes. Of course I knew he shakes, I have known him for many years and have seen it myself. What struck me was the hopefulness in this little scene. This young man full of life, strength and with a steady hand, bending down to hold the cup steady so his brother in Christ could receive it, believe me when I say, it was beautiful.
It made me weep.
So many thoughts went through my mind.
I have wanted to write for quite some time but haven’t made the time for it. But time is not the only thing that has hindered me. When I write I want to encourage others. I want to shine light and hope into dark places. I wanted many times to pour out things I have seen that felt so heavy and hopeless, but yet I KNOW there is hope. I wanted to write something light, but I’m afraid I’m not that kind of girl, not in the traditional sense of the word anyway.
But this young man made me write.
He brought me to tears, tears that just kept flowing, tears of thankfulness and joy. He did not serve the other for my benefit. Most likely he doesn’t even know I saw him. He didn’t do it because he sought praise and recognition. He did it because it is right. He did it because it is love.
My heart was overwhelmed in that moment and honestly, as I write this, it still is. I cried because love in its simple and rawest form is worth my tears. I cried because our children go to school and kill others they don’t even know. I cried because others freely sacrifice their lives to protect people they’ve never met. I cried for the Indian couple I begged not to end the life of their own child at the clinic as the mama sat next to their precious twin boys there in the back seat. I cried because families adopt unwanted children and love them like their own. I cried because terrorists kill others in the name of religion. I cried because others genuinely understand that true religion is loving and caring for those in need. I cried because a man who is kind, gentle, and all things good, has it rough. I cried because this same man just lost the father he loved. I cried because that father he lost is not lost at all. He is in heaven now.
I cried because there is so much hate, but there is also so much love.
I know that we live in a big, mean world but there is another side to that coin.
There are people who are loving.
Look for them.
They are reaching out with a steady hand for those who are shaking. They are loving behind the scenes, not for public approval, but because they love the God they serve.
I want to be those people.
I want to be the change I want to see.
We have all heard this saying “You can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone.” If I will just help someone, if I will dare to be inconvenienced for the sake of another’s well-being, if I will give, expecting nothing in return, if I will do what is right simply because it is right, then the little world I live in will be a better place.
It is tempting to believe that the whole world has given up on kindness and love, but that is simply not the case. If you will look for the workers, the givers, the servants, you will see them.
Beautiful things happen each and every day and I was fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of just one today. Beauty and love are not compiled of a few large things, but rather a million small ones. I was challenged today to love more. I was challenged to serve more.
Let’s all agree to be the change we want to see.
I know it starts with me.
Thanks for sharing life.
Until next time,
Susan