November 5, 2025

When we give our time and attention to others, such as volunteering to help at a food bank or preschool, God’s glory shines bright. God’s love shines bright. We might say that Jesus is happy when we give our precious time and energy to help others – even more than when we give our hard-earned treasure.

There in the midst of the flurry of activity of sorting cans of food or handing out colored paper, the angels’ hands help us and Jesus’ love shines through. There in the mundane details, God’s eternal love is found.  There is the breakthrough, the antidote to the selfish materialism of society at large.  There is the medicine that cures our souls of the ailments of modern times.  There we can find joy – the joy of helping in small ways, the joy of community, the joy of going beyond our small selves.  It is not much, and yet it is everything.  It is kindness and compassion, it is the antidote to loneliness and despair. It can change a child’s life or nudge an adult’s depression toward healing. It can create a chink in trauma and PTSD. 

That is all. Amen.