Episode 41: Just Like That

Transcript

Today is Sunday, December 4, 2022! This will not be a typical episode. Today, I am calling on you, my producers to rally around a family in need of some help. The other night, I was on my way home from visiting my mom and attending a funeral for my great-aunt, when my phone rang. I don’t typically answer the phone when driving for obvious reasons, but it kept ringing and it made me wonder if something serious was happening. I answered the phone and it was my neighbor. He started with the sentence, “I don’t want you to worry”. That phrase, invariably has the opposite effect, for the record. He went on to inform me that my pets were safe and that my house was not on fire. It was my next-door neighbor’s house that was on fire.

My next-door neighbor and his partner are kind, hard-working, and gentle souls. He is a guy who makes his way through life and never asks for anything. He’s a great dad and a considerate friend. His girlfriend is also kind and considerate and their kids are loved and well-cared for. When I arrived on the scene, I was forced to park a half a block away because of all the firetrucks and EMS responders. Before I go any further, I am happy to report that everyone is safe and there was no loss of human life, though sadly, their little dog did not make it out.

Every earthly possession they had was lost in the blaze, but thank God the family was unharmed. I want to give credit to the EMS and firefighting team for their professionalism and for their courage in the face of tragedy. It was amazing to me how quickly and efficiently they worked, yes, but the way in which they approached the family and interacted with them was so caring and sincere that I have earned a whole new respect for the work that they do. The restoration service that was sent to assess the damage and walk the family through the process was also top notch. The Red Cross has stepped up and helped get them a place to stay in the meantime as well. I want to make sure that I am giving credit where credit is due. Our neighborhood and faith community have also been very supportive and sympathetic to their cause.

In the show notes you will find a link to a site called givesendgo.com, that the family members have set up to assist them in their time of need. This goes directly to the family and has nothing to do with this show. I just thought that it made sense to reach out to you all and offer you the opportunity to help, however you can. I know that there are many needs out there and am sure that you all have ways in which you minister to others. If you are led to give, know that it will be assisting a family in real need.

One of the results of seeing tragedy up close and personal is always a re-evaluation of the blessings we have been given in our own lives. I know that a part of me kept wondering how I would feel, had it been the other way around, if the call had been about my own home. How quickly we forget how good we have it. How easy it is to forget how fragile our lives really are. How encouraging is it when we see people who experience such loss, responding gracefully and prayerfully. I likely will not forget my neighbor, sitting on my living room floor with his four-year old daughter on his lap, explaining that they lost a house but their home is wherever they are and that they will be okay and that he will take care of her. A line like that, when uttered in real life, in the face of real tragedy is not trite or superficial. It is a thing of beauty and true courage.

I can only hope that I would respond so ideally and with such integrity to a situation like this. I don’t think any of us can really know how we will respond until we have to. I thought about how this would be received on this platform and decided that I would choose to have faith in people and their kindness and empathy. I chose to ignore the cynical part of me that believes people will see this as an attempt to draw attention to myself.

Soon, it will be Christmas and, along with all their possessions, they lost their home and all the gifts that they had worked so hard to purchase for the kids. I know that Christmas presents aren’t what Christmas is about, surely my neighbor understands this, as do you, but there is something that tugs extra hard at the heart this time of year, regardless.

I don’t know what is going on in your lives and certainly we all know of unmet needs around us. I talk a lot about the things that are wrong in the world and about the dangers we all face from the creep of totalitarian ideology, but I also try and discuss the importance of making a difference where we can and how we can. Problems are easy to come by. Solutions present themselves less obviously and ask much more of us, personally. As I said, there is a link in the show notes to a site where you can help this family in their time of need. Maybe God is telling you to help here. Maybe not. Maybe there is someone else in your life that you know you can bless in some way and you’ve neglected to for whatever reason. I know that I certainly could be doing more on a daily basis to be part of the solution.

Take a few moments today and ask yourself, “What is it that I could be doing to meet a need that I am not acting on?” And then, act on it. Not tomorrow, not the next day, not when it makes more sense with a schedule. Choose to be a blessing to someone else, today.

I have been asking myself what more I could be doing and I am trying to act on that here and now. There are so many needs out there and there’s always some tragedy or another we hear or read about. I know of many other needs that I could be featuring here every time I sit down in front of this microphone or keyboard. It can be overwhelming. It brings to mind an old story that I will paraphrase here. It’s a story about a little girl, walking down a beach, covered in thousands of starfish, picking one up at a time and throwing it back in. An older man asks her, “What are you doing? There’s thousands of them, you’ll never even make a difference”, and as he says this to her, she reaches down and tosses another into the waves, responding, “It made a difference for that one”.

Please share this link with others. I don’t care if you share the show or this episode, I’m asking you to share the link in the show notes to help this wonderful family. I’ll update you all on the situation here and on my Substack page where I will be posting this transcript and link as well.

We should never take what we have for granted. It’s something we all know to be true, instinctively, but it also a fact relegated to the abstract parts of our minds until we see the reason up close and personal. Our lives can be chugging along as constant as a train and suddenly, just like that, poof. The bottom falls out from underneath us.

I end with a quote by C.S. Lewis,

"I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare."

You are valued, you are loved, and you are worthy.

God Bless and Goodnight.

How to Help Benson-Kalulu family! Click here!