Ministering....

 

A passage from Little Women...by Louisa May Alcott.

 

"Not far away from here lies a poor woman with a little newborn baby. Six children are huddled into one bed to keep from freezing, for they have no fire. There is nothing to eat over there, and the oldest boy came to tell me they were suffering hunger and cold. My girls, will you give them your breakfast as a Christmas present?" Mrs March to her daughters....

The March family seems poor, but when they're contrasted with the Hummels, who don't even have wood for a fire in the middle of winter, we realize that they're actually pretty well off. The existence of poor families like the Hummels gives the Marches a way to practice charity at home, sacrificing some of their comfort to preserve the lives of the unhappy children who live nearby.

 

Source: Schmoop

We've come to think of wealth as 'possessions'. What happened to having a generous heart?


We've come to think of the term 'ministering' to mean something religious.

 

And certainly in the right context, it means that.

 

"To minister....to perform the functions of a religious minister."

 

It can also mean "to give service, care or aid".

 

Or "to contribute as to comfort or happiness".

 

Source: dictionary.com

 

I've mentioned before that our youngest son has Cerebral Palsy and is completely physically dependent. He has a great life that exceeds the expectations the world had for him when he was a child. He lives in his own home, with a team of support staff around the clock, and does what other 24 year old fellas do. Watch sport, have friends over, play with the dog, go out to restaurants and so on. He's my hero.

 

He came to see his younger sister in the school musical last night. He had a ball, met new people and amazed me, as he always does these days, with his immense capacity to engage others in conversation, and take an interest in them, despite his own limitations.

 

He even let me hold his hand for a bit, which I like to do, and which he doesn't always allow, even if he enjoys it too.

 

Which brings me to the ministering.

 

Who do you minister to in the course of your day? In this context, I'm referring to 'contribute as to comfort or happiness".

 

We do this automatically for our loved ones, but there are many in society who lack comfort and happiness.

 

I know I've been called upon just in the last week, to minister to a sibling who is having a troubled time, to a friend of my daughter who has some struggles with depression and anxiety, and to the vet who visited my sons dog, who also has a disabled child, and whom I listened to at length, prompting her to observe as she left... 'what an extraordinary conversation for me to have with a perfect stranger!'.

 

I am, at certain moments, anxious about who will minister to my disabled son when I am no longer here. Will his sister hold his hand, curled by the Cerebral Palsy and give him comfort and happiness? I hope so. But she too, will have a family and work commitments. Will his Aunts and cousins and sisters-in-law minister to him? Again, I hope so, but there are no guarantees in life. 

 

My greatest fear, is that in the busy whirlwind of life, my son will miss the gentle touch of someone who loves him. Someone who is not there because they're paid to be. Someone who holds his hand and looks into his eyes when he speaks, and is genuinely interested in him.

 

I can only hope that in my lifetime, I have done enough, ministered enough, and provided sufficient comfort and happiness to others, that it will be returned in kind for my son.

 

We can all be 'ministers'. We can all contribute comfort and happiness to someone outside of our immediate family circle in the course of our day or week.

 

To whom will you minister this week?

 

 

...Mimi...