Parents Drowned, Boy With Broken Leg

The devastation in Haiti from Hurricane Gustav and Tropical Storm Hannah is grim. The people of Haiti face starvation. Their crops are destroyed, many have not eaten in nearly a week.

Now is the time to donate to an aid agency: ActionAid or the IFRC (International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies). As you read this, thousands of Red Cross volunteers are working round the clock to help the mounting number of victims from the storms.

Please do not wait. Do it right now.

Even should you be having a rough time yourself, dig deep within yourself. Connect with your fearlessness. Then give whatever you can, even if it’s only a dollar. God does not care about the amount, but only about your intention and the love with which you give it.

This from CBC News today:

“Freelance reporter Reed Lindsay said he encountered an injured young boy in the city who was fending for himself after his parents drowned in the floods.

‘He had a broken leg and had no medical help at all,’ Lindsay told CBC News on Friday from Gonaives. ‘He was wearing his underwear. It was the only thing he had left.’”

I know, if you could, you would scoop that child up into your arms and take him into your home. You would feed him and dress him and comfort him. You would change your habits in order to help him build a new world from the shattered pieces of his heart.

And doing this would give you new energy, new strength, new purpose because you’re human. Because you care. Because God lives inside you. Because that’s the power of love.

So give with him in mind. In your heart say, “God, I make this donation for this boy. I trust You will take my love – and my financial help – to him.”

There are many boys like him. If you can help just one – give enough to help just one – that is a beautiful act that praises the Lord.

And, together, we will help them all.

PRAYER TO LEARN THE LESSON

Dear God,

Teach me what I need to learn from these storms.

If it is faith, open my eyes
So I see you love me
And respond to me.

If it is generosity,
Open me so I give with a happy heart.

If it is gratitude,
Let the realization of my good fortune
Drop me to my knees
In thanks for my life.

If it is a need for joy,
Let me sing, dance and rejoice
That my children and I are safe;
That we have shelter, electricity, water, and food
That I have so much
In comparison to those who live
On two dollars a day.

If it is awareness of my responsibility
To actively help create a better world
Guide me to those actions
That fill me with new purpose and power.

Collectively we create the world’s sorrow
And we create the world’s joy.

Our sorrows show us where we need to create joy,
And where we need to take better care of each other.

Help me create joy, Lord,
For that boy,
And for everyone who suffers,
As well as for myself.

Help me perform whatever miracles you want of me today.

Because we are One Being
That lives and breathes in You.

Thank you,
Amen.

“Show mercy and compassion every man to his brother.” Zecharia 7:9

“Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” Matthew 5:40

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