Author: Logan W, Church Administrator
This week I listened to old episodes of one of my favorite podcasts. The hosts were discussing Fred Rogers’s wisdom passed down from his mother: When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’
After a moment of discussion, the hosts took Fred Roger’s teaching a step further;
‘We should be the helpers.’
Being at Peace is a blessing as I can see ‘the helpers’ in action every day; the quilters, the fellowship committee, ReactDC, Global Refuge, Belvedere Food Bags, Neighbor to Neighbor, the property and grounds committees, and the list goes on. Proximity to this outpouring of such love has served as a balm during a prolonged season, pregnant with angst, where it seems no news is the only good news. And yet in this season, I have a unique glance into the dual roles we hold as helpers who need help. My unique glance is the perspective of watching Pastor Doug join Peace Lutheran Church. Watching a Pastor and Congregation help each other. I see how the people of Peace have continually shown up to support Doug, and I see Pastor Doug help them. Both are helpers, and both come to need help, not out of obligation or contract, but out of a desire to live as Christ Jesus instructed us.
Below I have shared with you the Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi. I pray it inspires you all.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.
