Step Up Or Stay Home
“The King will reply, ‘Truly
I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters
of mine, you did for me.’” –
Matthew 25:40
She was done. Fed up. This normally even-tempered
woman was going to have her say. I understood.
Her town received much damage in Hurricane Michael.
She isn’t complaining about that. She’s still got a home and she’s grateful.
Power will be restored eventually. All the limbs will be cut and hauled off.
Life will resume. She knows it could have been much worse.
Her complaint stems from the looky-loos driving slowly
down her street. They aren’t there to help. They’re there to get a good look at
all the damage. They obviously don’t have a lot of damage at their own homes.
If they did, they wouldn’t have time to be out driving around.
They need to go home, she said with uncharacteristic
anger. If they aren’t here to help, they don’t need to be here at all. I know.
She was tired. Stressed to the max. Trying to clean up what the winds tore up.
But she has a good point. We’ve been blessed by those
who have shown up and put feet and hands to their faith. We’re so fortunate by
those who are gathering supplies – water, generators, toiletries, food – and heading
to those areas where people are in desperate need.
And then there are those who want to talk about it but
never actually get around to doing anything. They are the looky-loos who would
rather observe than actually get their hands dirty with work.
Of course, I can handle that better than those who make
empty offers they never plan to follow up with. You know the ones. “Call me if
I can do anything,” they’ll say. “Just let me know what you need,” they add.
But they are never available and never follow through.
A sweet friend had some serious health issues a couple of years ago. She was so
frustrated by those who offered to help but, when called on, could only make
excuses. She wanted to know why people make offers when they have no intentions
of doing anything.
I think it’s because they want to feel good about
themselves. Somehow it makes them feel like they’ve done something simply
because they’ve made an offer. They’ve somehow convinced themselves they’ll
never get called, never be asked, never have to step up.
We’ve all seen it. Just make a call and they’re just
too busy. Or the time isn’t convenient. Or they just can’t physically do it.
Then why offer? Just don’t say anything. That was my friend’s frustration. No
one asks you to offer so, unless you plan to step up, don’t say anything.
These are challenging days. Mexico Beach is gone.
Panama City, Port St. Joe, Lynn Haven and so many other coastal communities
have major damage that will take years to rebuild. And that’s just along the
coast. It doesn’t consider all the communities inland who also suffered severe
damage and destruction. These storm victims don’t need empty words or looky-loos.
They need real help. They need people who are willing to sweat, sacrifice,
give. They need hugs and hope.
So, if you aren’t willing to help, stay home. People
are hurting and they don’t deserve to be your entertainment.
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