I have used an electric toothbrush for many years. It’s a nice one and it beeps every time I’m supposed to change which quadrant of my mouth I’m brushing. It allows me to be fully lost in my thoughts while brushing. As a daydreamer this is the way I like to do things, haha! This summer, however, I have spent about six weeks away from my toothbrush. I’ve traveled to California, Europe, and Cleveland and have just taken a little battery-operated toothbrush instead. I’ve discovered something strange: I can’t remember how long to brush my teeth! I will find that I’ve spent a full minute on my upper right teeth, for example, or just ten seconds on my lower teeth. I’ve been totally lost without my toothbrush telling me exactly what to do at each moment of the teeth brushing experience.
This situation with my toothbrush has me thinking about how I respond to life. How often am I dependent on external sources giving me instructions before I act? Too frequently, I’m afraid.
There is much pain and suffering in the world right now. Just the past few days alone there has been the horrific takeover in Afghanistan by the Taliban and the Haitian earthquake that killed hundreds and left hundreds of thousands homeless. We’re still dealing with the ravages of the COVID pandemic, wildfires are wiping out people’s homes around the world, extreme drought is affecting people in very diverse areas, people are being diagnosed with life-altering or life-ending illnesses, hunger and homelessness are increasing, there are horrifying acts of cruelty being reported daily, and anger seems to be climbing. The struggles all around seem almost overwhelming.
With that backdrop I often find myself seeming paralyzed and unable to act. Maybe, just maybe, if someone tells me exactly what to do, and how and when to do so, I will move forward and help. If not, then I’ll probably just get lost in my own little world and do nothing. As Rogers and Hammerstein said, I can just remain “in my own little corner, in my own little chair.”
Throughout my life I have watched people I admire using their own initiative to make very positive impacts in the world. They take meals to someone in need, they provide music to nursing homes, they begin projects aimed to alleviate the worst pangs of hunger in a community, they reach out to help people become connected, they fundraise for crises, they start groups to encourage listening to others and other points of view, they literally fight the raging fires, etc. Meanwhile I often feel that I hide in the comfort of my own thoughts and don’t actually find ways to help. I enjoy my comfortable spot of knowing everything going on without actually doing anything about it.
Several years ago I asked some children I taught in church to consider donating one week’s allowance to those who had lost everything in wildfires that swept through Southern California. Those children were so excited to do this! One child took on extra chores to earn more money to donate, another asked his parents for a one-week boost in his allowance, while yet another brought more than a month’s-worth of allowances to add to the fund. Watching these children and their enthusiasm was so educational for me. Do I get excited when given an opportunity to serve? There was another adult, however, who saw this effort and try to prevent it from going forward, suggesting that this approach to helping was not “authorized.” That man was unable to stop what had already occurred, but he did stop the initiative from expanding. I have allowed this experience (and some others that were similarly negative) to serve as an excuse not to act when I see a need. Inaction is not good.
One of my big goals looking forward is to not allow myself to be stopped from doing good. Ben used to talk about the need to do “unauthorized service.” There doesn’t need to be an external organization or impetus before we can act. By praying and seeking and observing we can see needs and just do.
Many years ago I was driving down the road when I saw a man lying face-down in the gutter. The Spirit told me to stop and help. I was a twenty-something female who had been drilled with the instruction to never stop to help a male when I was alone. So I didn’t stop. The Spirit repeated the instruction for me to stop two more times. I ignored it. I later learned that the man in the gutter was someone I knew who had had his back go out while he was jogging. He laid in that gutter for hours before help arrived. The Spirit told me to help, but I allowed fear to stop me.
Fear, excuses, indecision, obliviousness, apathy and other such things are the enemies of God’s law of love. We have been charged by Jesus Christ to love one another, while also being warned about the danger of needing to be commanded in all things. We have been instructed to watch out for one another – to be our brother’s keeper. As we look for ways to serve those around us we will find opportunities to bless the lives of others – and to bless our own lives as well. After all, only by losing our lives in service to God will we truly gain our lives.
I have only one more week without my electric toothbrush, but I have now figured out how long to brush each quadrant of my teeth without guidance. I hope that I will likewise figure out how to independently look for ways to bless and serve others. Pain is real. Suffering is real. Heartache is real. God counts on us to find innovative and simple ways to lift and help. As the woes of the world draw ever closer around us we’ll find that excuses to not act are no longer tenable. Now is the time for all good people to come to the aid of their neighborhoods, communities, countries, and world. Now is the time to act and not wait to be acted upon. Now is the time to reach out and serve. Now is the time to look around, use our own initiative, and to try a little kindness.
Look to God and Live... Joyfully! 