Grace Lutheran Church, Centerburg Ohio

A Message from Pastor Chris...

A short snippet from Compass Points, by Margaret Silf, entitled “The Cost of Little Things:”

     A friend who is a district nurse tells me of her heartache when visiting elderly infirm people.  All too often, they live alone, and the visit of a nurse is their only chance to speak to another human being from one week to the next.

     Sometimes just some small change would make a big difference to their quality of life such as a few hours of help with cleaning, a couple of nails to secure the edge of a carpet and help prevent another fall, or perhaps a bunch of flowers or a telephone call to brighten a drab existence.

     These small things are worth more than a hundred acts of government.  They cost almost nothing, and yet they cost too much, because they cost love and commitment.

     The life you have once touched with love, another’s need that you have once acknowledged and attended to, becomes a personal responsibility.  It’s much easier, after all, to leave matters to “the authorities.”

 

Perhaps this Valentine’s Day and the entire month of February, we can seek out and actively offer some small gestures that make a big difference in other people’s lives.  Starting our days with the mindset and willingness to stop, offer, and make  a difference through acts of love and commitment perhaps is the most loving gift we could give someone this Valentine’s Day and beyond.  Let us pray for attentiveness to listen to others (what they are truly saying), to take time out of our busy schedules to visit, bring food or fix something in need for someone else, and to prayerfully contemplate what it means to truly love others with a sense of commitment and self-giving love.  Let’s not fall into the temptation and trap of thinking someone else will do it.  Because ultimately God is calling each of us - yes, you and me - to love one another, not in big and grandiose ways, but in the very small acts of love, done simply out of commitment and faithfulness to God’s way, loving one another as God has loved us.

 

Can we see this as a personal calling or a personal responsibility that we have to each other and to God?

 

Happy Valentine’s Day and beyond, and may these small acts make a big difference in someone’s life.

 

Blessings, Pastor Chris