Things cannot get much worse.” That rather trite statement was a frequent, feeble attempt to encourage people – after Katrina.
“Things cannot get much worse.” That rather trite
statement was a frequent, feeble attempt to encourage people – after
Katrina.
Of course, for Louisiana, not only was that statement trite, but it was wrong – absolutely wrong.
Things have gotten worse.
And with the terrible devastations of Katrina and
Rita, many Louisianians are suffering malaise, if not downright
depression.
The average person is not equipped to offer great
words of wisdom that will lift the person’s spirit who has just seen
the destructive power of floodwaters and/or hurricane winds for the
second time.
But there are a couple of things the average person can do.
This is the time for random acts of kindness and
generosity. A person who is down in spirits receives a little boost
every time someone lets that person into the flow of traffic or move up
in the checkout line or yields to another person trying to go down the
aisle of a crowded store. A person is encouraged each time a total
stranger stops to help. Every time someone pitches in to help a
neighbor when there is work to be done at home, a spark of
encouragement happens. Every time someone cooks something and takes it
to someone who is trying to “clean up the mess,” the nourishment goes
beyond the food itself.
Every time a person who is wondering how they are
going to pay bills at the end of the month drops off a $20 bill to
someone else in greater need, the generosity is multiplied in what it
accomplishes.
And these kinds of acts are highly contagious.
A person who has just been let into the flow of
traffic probably will let another person in, and then, the act is
multiplied. A person who receives generosity becomes generous. And as
the floodwaters covered the area, so will acts of kindness and
generosity.
Kindness and generosity can change a whole area’s
attitude and spirit. The big acts are important, but few of us can
provide them. However, we all can provide kindness
and a smile of encouragement.
Words of encouragement may be resented right now. But no act of kindness will be.
And we can pray. The results of prayer usually are
not seen immediately, but the power of prayer is the greatest means of
encouragement we can offer. Only later, will we have any idea of the
encouragement our prayers provided those in such great need.
And in offering acts of kindness and generosity and
prayers, something wonderful happens to us. We begin to see that
however helpless we may feel, we have at least done something. We begin
to feel good that we have done what we can do, and then, our spirits
are lifted and our lifted spirits help others.
So, help all you can with the big things, but do not
neglect the little things. Little things add up and become bigger and
bigger – and we can all participate.