Share and share alike...

I watch my daughters teaching their boys to share. It is a hard won lesson often accompanied by bops from the “sharer” to the “sharee”. It is an act of discipline to let go of something of value and take the risk of letting someone else have it. It is one of the earliest and most important lessons we learn as members of the human family. Every religion has a statement commanding us to share. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have. Hebrews 13:16 Most of us cannot be Mother Teresa or Albert Schweitzer but all of us can be common garden variety givers and doers of good.
We sat in our small group Sunday night worried about one of our own, a single parent, who is facing several intense issues... death of a family member, money woes, worry about a teenaged child. We love her and wanted to help, to do good. First we passed the gourd around and collected some money to help with travel expenses for the funeral and then we decided to put feet to our feelings. Her basement is a worry to her. It needs organizing and a broken closet pole fixed. She keeps trying to get the job done but it is a symbol of all in her life over which she has no control. So after the funeral, we are going to meet (and eat chilli) and get that basement done. She says she knows basement cleaning is a trivial thing but it looms large and weighs her soul down. Not so trivial after all.
In September Michael and I will be meeting my work camp crew in Cherokee again for another run at doing good. We will clean, do some construction jobs, nothing spectacular or particularly noteworthy in the history of the Cherokee people. But it will be a force for good for the Wolf family, our special friends on the reservation. They carry the memories of their clan and tribe, a rich part of our country’s past, and we are friends. Friends share time and love and energy with one another. This place and these people are dear to our hearts and we are dear to them. So we will work together, share meals, laugh and weep as we remember Elsie, Deweese’s wife, who died since last we met.
My friend Leisa told me a story about her beach trip. She was walking on the beach and passed a woman sitting at the edge of the water, her head down on her knees, surrounded by laughing children and adults. When she walked back by her, the woman was alone, in the same position, oblivious to the water creeping up on her feet. Leisa felt drawn to her and risked sharing with a stranger. She went to her, knelt down, put her arm on her shoulder and spoke simple words. “You look sad. You must be in a hard place right now. May I pray for you?” The woman’s tear streaked face was close to Leisa as she prayed a simple prayer. “Dear God, be with this child of yours who needs your tender care.” As Leisa walked away down the beach she heard the woman say, “Thank you for your kindness.”
Sharing... time, money, work, life, love, prayers, faith... is one way we can be good children of God. Taking the risk to let someone into your world, to be the “Sharee”, is scarier than being the “Sharer” but both places are holy ground in loving relationships, even temporary relationships with strangers. This holy ground is home to angels and we are surrounded by them. Help me, Dear One, whether I am the “sharer” or the “sharee”, to remember how you shared yourself with us. Let all my good deeds, large or small, spring from my love for You. Let me be one of your angels and help me see the other angels that surround me all the day long. Amen.