By PeggySue Wells:
How can I help?
Members of Christ the King Catholic Church in San Diego were dismayed when vandals marred their statue of Jesus. Now the garden statue’s arms end at the sleeves: the outstretched hands of Jesus broken off. Instead of repairing the hands, the church placed a plaque at the base of the statue with the message:
I have no hands but yours.
How can we be Jesus’ hands to our friends and neighbors who are experiencing crisis in their lives?
Our desire to help is sincere but we sometimes do not know how. “How can I help?” is often a fruitless question to ask them directly. In the pit of emotional or physical pain, people do not have the energy to tell us what would help them. True help comes from feeling someone’s pain, seeing a need, and acting on that insight.
Helping is the ministry of enCOURAGEment, to give someone courage in their darkest hour. To come alongside and bear our friends’ heartaches with them. To support, make more bearable, relieve, benefit, and change for the better.
People are often most helped when one person takes the time to give them a hug from God – one single, often invisible act that provides an anchor in the stormy waters of despair. A loving deed performed by someone who cares for us is the hands of Jesus to a hurting heart.
Lord Christ,
You have no body on earth but ours,
No hands but ours,
No feet but ours.Ours are the eyes through which your compassion
Must look out on the world.Ours are the feet by which you may still
Go about doing good.Ours are the hands with which
You bless people now.Bless our minds and bodies,
That we may be a blessing to others.
Amen- St. Theresa of Avila
Here’s a video from YouTube you may enjoy, with a song called 800 pound Jesus written by Paul Thorn. Watch for scenes with the angel and the little girl!
©PeggySue Wells. Peggy is a prolific article writer, speaker, and author of a dozen published books, including What To Do When You Don’t Know What To Say To Your Own Family (AMG). Visit her website at www.PeggySueWells.com
