“Am I my brother’s keeper?” Yep.
Christian brothers and sisters, at this time of darkness and uncertainty in our country and around the world, sharing the gift of life means keeping an eye on your brothers and sisters (literally and figuratively).
There is a high correlation between unemployment and depression or even suicide, especially when that unemployment came unexpectedly and undeservedly.
Do you know someone who has lost their job temporarily or permanently? Rather than asking if there’s something you can do to help, here are some ideas on how you might “keep” your brother or sister:
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Call, text, email, Facetime, or use any other means just to let them know that you’re there and thinking of them. Then seek to maintain that contact as the days go by.
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Go online and order a gift card for them to use for groceries, gas, or a drive-thru restaurant. You might consider ways to keep your gift anonymous to reduce any sense of embarrassment or shame.
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Encourage your community to “occupy their front porch” at a certain time each evening and engage those people who are out and about while still respecting social-distancing norms.
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If neither you nor your neighbor are sick (and local restrictions allow), ask them to help you with a project, particularly if social distancing is possible while still maintaining some personal presence. Raking, preparing the garden for planting, or cleaning up the yard are great ways to burn off some energy, accomplish something, and “work together” while not working “together.”
Here’s an opportunity to let the light of Christ’s love illumine a dark place in someone else’s life. Thank you, brothers and sisters.
“On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together” (1 Corinthians 12:22-26 ESV).