Monday, November 16, 2009

Sharing Even If It Means Going With Less

This last Sunday, November 15th, 2009 I finally made it church after not having been there for many months. And you know what I noticed? Is that sometimes you may not feel up to getting dressed to get out to church but after all is said and done and church is over, I always feel great. Never have I regretted going to church. But my church is especially special to me because we have such an amazing Pastor to lead us and he is also my dear friend and I feel lucky to have two kinds of relationships with him and able to confide in him in two different ways: one as my Pastor and one as my friend, a very dear dear friend at that. I also feel so lucky to have such a congregation that prays for me every sunday for my recovery whether I'm there or not.

So the sermon on this particular Sunday was about sharing and looking at a problem in a different light. My Pastor, and I shall call him by his name cause I don't think he would mind :), Clay, used the examples of the disciples finding ways to share only 7 loaves of bread with 4,000 people. They could either look at it in frustration and impossible to do so with only 7 loaves OR look to God and hear what He has called you to do. So while the disciples cried out that it couldn't be done, God called upon Jesus to find a way to feed that many people with so little and Jesus heard Him and did.

Sharing should be a very vital part to our life here on earth. There are so many people in need and we can get very selfish and take for granted what we have while there are thousands of people out there who don't have a bed to sleep in or two nickels to rub together.

I learned a lot about this while living in New York City. Everywhere you go there are homeless people either sleeping on the cold and hard cement with a stand asking for money or walking around with a paper cup from McDonalds begging, and sometimes right in your face so it was hard to avoid them. Often times I was in a hurry for an audition or for work and just completely ignored them but there were times when I was just strolling in the park or heading to meet some friends and stopped to give a dollar and sometimes even two even if that meant going with less for myself. And that is exactly what Clay was talking about on Sunday; sharing sometimes means giving more and keeping less for yourself. And it made me think that I did do that sometimes and it made me feel good that I helped someone more by keeping less even if it meant it would put me in a bind to get back on the subway. There were also times when I actually gave them food instead, even if that meant giving them my lunch or dinner for work. Even times if they were by a vendor I bought them a chicken or beef kabob for three bucks, even if it meant not being able to buy one for myself.

So I was proud of myself for being so selfless in New York City despite the hard life I was already living; a starving artist as they say. And so I could completely relate to the sermon Clay gave because I already had such experience with sharing. We should all try to learn how to share, and that doesn't always mean money. It can be being involved with Neighbor to Neighbor or giving your used clothes and shoes to Goodwill or the Salvation Army.

There are so many things you can do to share. And trust me, you will feel so good you'll want to do more even if means keeping less for yourself. That is sharing.


Thank you Clay for such a wonderful sermon. It reminds us to step out of our bubble and see others in the world who have less than us.

2 comments:

Doug Campbell said...

Thank you Sarah for sharing again. Yours is a message from the heart.
Our prayers shall continue- for you, your family, and others.

Cilla Coe said...

Hi Sarah,

Thank you for that - I felt moved and inspired yesterday, too! Sorry I didn't get over to say hi to you. It was wonderful having you there.