Tuesday, October 9, 2012

That was Me...

‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.’    Matthew 25:40 (The Message)


Who are these overlooked or ignored - the least of these?

The little boy with an extra chromosome who lives in a crib in an adult mental institution?

The little girl who has just been taken out of the only family she has known - she was often scared, or hungry, or hurt by those who were supposed to love her - but it was all she knew - and now it's gone and she's with strangers...

The twins who are living in a remote village whose parents have died, whose grandmother is too sick to look after them, and who isn't sure which village their aunts and uncles have gone to when looking for work - they are taking care of their younger brothers and sisters - even though they are only 9.  What will they feed the baby today?

Because they are not at our front door - we can live like they don't exist.  But they DO exist.  And not thinking about it and going on about our lives doesn't make them not exist.

What can we do? 

We can sponsor a child living in poverty - to allow them to get a meal and learn how to read and write and stay with their families.  And write them a letter, letting them know that we care about them.  They are not overlooked, we SEE them.

We can advocate for the orphan who doesn't even know that they could live in a family - and have a mommy look into their eyes and SEE them and love them.

We can become a foster family or become a friend to a foster family, taking them a meal and a teddy bear when a child comes to a new placement - and bend down and SEE that child and give them a hug and a bear to hold onto when the lights are off and the heart is hurting.

Jesus said:  ... that was ME, you did that to ME.



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