The Simple Act

But just how far can we implement this planetal awareness? We are asked today to feel compassionately for everyone in the world; to digest intellectually all the information spread out in public print; and to implement in action every ethical impulse aroused by our hearts and minds. The inter-relatedness of the world links us constantly with more people than our hearts can hold. Or rather- for I believe the heart is infinite - modern communication loads us with more problems than the human frame can carry.

- Gifts from the Sea , Anne Morrow Lindbergh

We can easily become overwhelmed by the needs we see around us. The suffering of people thousands of miles away are immediately present to us. But there also is much suffering closer to home, and we can feel as inadequate in the face of those needs as we feel towards those which are in another country. How can we help? What difference can we make when there is so much need? The answer may be that when we regard the mass of need, there is little we can do. But if we will look for the one person who has been placed in our path, perhaps for that one we can do something. It may be food, or shelter, or a ride to work. It may be to simply sit with them and listen, to let them know that they will be strong again. The little things can be very powerful in a person's life, and they can only occur between persons. The simple act. The single person. That may well be all that is asked of us.

Blessings, Sam