Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and
edify one another even as also ye do.
-1
Thessalonians 5:11
That there should be no schism in the body;
but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffers, all the
members suffer with it, or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with
it.
-1
Corinthians 12:25-26
I remember
driving in to work one clear, cool autumn morning thinking what a beautiful day
it was and how peaceful everything looked.
Then, my cell phone rang, and my mother told me that a plane crashed
into the World Trade Center. Of course,
we all remember what happened after that moment. I thought the country and maybe the world
would devolve into chaos. And, yet what
I saw was such an astounding unification of people, people from all walks of
life, all around the globe, coming together and supporting and caring and
loving one another through this horrific event.
I saw this again following the December 26, 2004, tsunami and then again
on the Mississippi Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina. It gave me, and continues to give me, great
faith in humanity and more so in the fact that God’s word and Christ’s
direction are in so many of us. But, it
does not take a monumental disaster for us to lift one another up. Each of us endeavors to work through
“mini-disasters” and challenges every day.
We should be attuned to the needs of one another and always be available
to help, even if helping is simply listening or offering a prayer with our
neighbor. Learn to be trusted friends
and remember that we are all integral parts of one body in Christ such that
each supports the other in times of need and cheers and rejoices in the
blessings each receives. The smallest of kindnesses often count in the largest
of ways. While one person’s crisis may
not be a newsworthy event, the difference we make by following the Word of
Christ by being one together is truly monumental.
