Saturday, April 10, 2010

Dear God,

How do you trigger the human heart to do good? What inspires the soul to reach out, to help someone, to care for another?

I just watched a recent story about a 28 year old single mother who was stabbed in a park while she watched her children play. Left paralyzed below the waist, she forgave her mentally unstable attacker. Her Texas town of 300 people got together and started rebuilding her tiny house, making access to every room. They literally rebuilt her kitchen making it possible for her to cook and clean while in a wheelchair. And by the way did I say that she has no health insurance and local doctors and the hospital are providing care for free?

How can we become more compassionate? How can we give more, share more, offer more? How can we treat others even strangers as close family members? What needs to change in us that will make us want to stop accumulating for ourselves, hoarding what we have and begin living as if we live communally?

When I read stories of compassionate love, I wonder why we all don't pause and make the shift to greater compassion. Something happens to us when we care for someone else, when we give a part of ourselves away, when we love unselfishly. We become beautiful people. We show the best of who we are. We are happier, more enjoined with those around us. I suspect our whole being can be transformed even producing better health. Why don't we, Lord; why don't we?

Today,
Good God,
remake us
into your image.
Make our hands
giving hands,
our hearts generous,
our feet capable
of walking
our talk.
Expand our family
to include
your own.
Enlarge our hearts
with love
from on high,
not just
for ourselves
but also
for our neighbor,
I pray.

Love, Andrea