Life is for service 🙏
Every single human being we pass by today is fighting to find peace and to push back fear
A new post-it note has made its way into my wallet, courtesy of Fred Rogers.
May “Life is for service” remind us to take it easy on one another. Every single human being we pass by today is fighting to find peace and to push back fear; to get through their daily tasks without breaking down in front at the grocery store or in the carpool line or at the post office.
"All of us, at some time or other, need help. Whether we're giving or receiving help, each one of us has something valuable to bring to this world. That's one of the things that connects us as neighbors — in our own way, each one of us is a giver and a receiver.
"As human beings, our job in life is to help people realize how rare and valuable each one of us really is, that each of us has something that no one else has — or ever will have — something inside that is unique to all time. It's our job to encourage each other to discover that uniqueness and to provide ways of developing its expression." — Fred Rogers
In the words of pastor John Pavlovitz, “Everyone around you: the people you share the grocery store line with, pass in traffic, sit next to at work, encounter on social media, and see across the kitchen table—they’re all experiencing the collateral damage of living. They are all grieving someone, missing someone, worried about someone. Their marriages are crumbling or their mortgage payment is late or they’re waiting on their child’s test results, or they’re getting bananas five years after a death and still pushing back tears because the loss feels as real as it did that first day.”
Everywhere around us, people are struggling:
Parents whose children are terminally ill.
Couples in the middle of divorce.
People grieving loss of loved ones and relationships.
Kids being bullied at school.
Teenagers who want to end their lives.
People marking the anniversary of a death.
Parents worried about their depressed teenager.
Spouses whose partners are deployed in combat.
Families with no idea how to keep the lights on.
Single parents with little help and little sleep.
May we all make a small difference today: Call someone we love, praise a stranger, or do some kind act. Project love and kindness — in spite of everything going on. May we become a beacon of light, a breath of fresh air, a ray of sunshine for those around us.
Love,
Matthew