ISBC 35 - The Practice of Doing it Yourself
ISBC 35 - The Practice of Doing it Yourself
Chapter 35 of Hope: A User's Manual
We cannot wait for someone else. We’re it. For those of us who identify as Christian, Teresa of Avila nuances this point even further: Christ has no body but yours, No hands, no feet on earth but yours, Yours are the eyes with which he looks Compassion on this world, Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. But like Harry, we know that we have the strength to survive these terrible times, because people just like us have done hard things before, and we don’t do it alone.1
Some context to the quote above (and an encouragement to pick up MaryAnn’s book if you haven’t done so already), she’s connecting back to a moment in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (3rd book in the Harry Potter series). But the heart for me are these timeless words of Teresa of Avila that MaryAnn quotes - these words that speak this deep truth that God has led people through hard times in the past and will continue to do so now and into the future. So I simply want to emphasize Teresa’s words today and then share a dear song from
that speaks a similar truth from these two other wise women from whom we’ve heard today. Carrie’s song is called You Can Do This Hard Thing. No photo today - just these words and this beautiful song.Grace, Peace, Love, and Joy,
Pastor Ed
McKibben Dana, MaryAnn. Hope: A User's Manual (p. 150). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Kindle Edition.
Fred Rogers, better known as Mister Rogers, is one of my heroes. There is one famous quote from him though that really irritates me. It's not how he said it, but how I see people use it all over the internet. This chapter made me think of it.
"Look for the helpers."
Mister Rogers talked about how when something scary would happen in the world when he was a child, his mother told him to look for the helpers because he'd always find peoe helping to make things better. Now, whenever we've had yet another mass shooting, a natural distater, or some other awful event, I will often see adults sharing this quote. While I try to assume good intentions, it frustrates me. Mister Rogers (and his mother) were talking to children with that quote. We are the adults now. It's up to us to be the helpers; not just sit around looking for them.
To harken back to an earlier chapter, find the next best thing to do and do it. Help.