Helping Hands – Willing Souls
Last night I joined a group of more than 40 volunteers gathered together on a warm, muggy evening ready and willing to roll up their sleeves and get to work. The plan was a rather simple one, but as simple as it may have appeared, it took orchestration and desire beyond those individuals waiting patiently in the church parking lot to be assigned to families willing to let strangers in.
The idea in forming this monthly service project, appropriately titled “Power Hour,” was to provide eight to ten families a group of helping hands from willing souls to give service for yard work, house cleaning, home repairs or whatever the need. Each month the plan will be repeated, bringing together those willing to help others for a small but effective period of time. This was the first Power Hour of many to come, and I have to admit I was concerned about the number of people who would volunteer to participate—not so much those who would show up to do the work but rather those families willing to have work done for them.
It is easier to allow others in when you feel burdened and have nowhere to turn, but how about before we get to that state, are we able to put pride aside and allow help from those who just want to serve us? Today I was sent a story that ties in well to this one. It took place almost five years ago off the California coast near the Farallon Islands. A crab fisherman had spotted a female humpback whale in distress. She had become tangled in the lines connecting about a dozen crab traps each weighing 90 pounds, forcing this whale to struggle just to keep her blowhole above water. The nylon lines that connected these traps were wrapped around her torso, front left flipper and through her mouth, and one line was wrapped at least four times around her tail. In some places the binding ropes were cinched so tight from her struggle that they had cut into her flesh. It took four divers about an hour to cut her loose from this entanglement, and one of the divers reported that during their work she remained calm, allowing them to safely free her. At that moment she circled her rescuers and then, approaching each one, nuzzled and gently played with them before swimming away. One of the divers stated, “It seemed kind of affectionate, like a dog that’s happy to see you.” This experience and gentle show of gratitude has undoubtedly left those divers with a sense of appreciation embedded not just on their minds but also in their hearts.
It is easier to allow others in when we are at our rope’s end, feeling there is nowhere to turn and struggling to come up for air. But the lesson I wish to convey is, “How willing are we to allow others to do good and receive it graciously even though it may not be life-saving?” Sometimes it just takes having a few tasks removed from our burden to become untangled from those things that weigh us down. And hopefully this gentle nudge will bring us an understanding that sometimes it takes small but meaningful acts to bring us to a new place, allowing us to once again move freely.
In Other Words:
Wings of Angels
Wings of Angels
On wings of angels we too may fly,
Freeing us from our world of care
And finding lo that freedom is found
Not from the sky but on the ground.
A cherub might our rescuer seem
When we do cry and wish to bring
Us far away from earthen woes
And far away from dreaded foes.
Do we not see most angels come,
Not floating down from up above
But rather on this earth’s same sod
As they do walk by following God?
Do we know care to be a hand
Of help, of hope, a strengthening band,
Or are we blind in sightless paths
Through selfish pride we let them pass?
A weakened state or fallen form,
This may be what is needed from
Each one who bends and bows to break
Their unwillingness of help to take.
Do we not see most angels come,
Not floating down from up above
But rather on this earth’s same sod
As they do walk by following God?
So as you see your angels come
To serve you well and lift you from
Those low, dark places on earthen sod,
Be glad they knew to walk with God.
~A.E.Gold/August 2010~