How helping others find happiness can help you find yours
AS I see pictures, read and listen to news reports of things happening in our world in these days, there’s an old song by Jackie DeShannon that comes to mind: “What the world needs now is love, sweet love. It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of ... No, not just for some but for everyone.”
Most of us will feel helpless to have any influence on the chaos and sadness of people’s lives far away, other than to pray for them, but we can make a difference in the part of the world in which we live by ensuring that it is flooded with as much love and loving kindness as we can offer.
I like the story of the teacher who brought balloons to school, one for each child. He invited them each to take an inflated balloon and with use of a marker pen to write their name upon it. The children were then instructed to toss the balloons into the middle of the hall and to help him mixed them all up from one end to the other.
He then gave them five minutes to find the balloon with their name on it. They ran around frantically but as the whistle blew not one had found their own balloon.
The next instruction was to pick up the balloon closest to them, check the name and hand it to the person to whom it belonged. In less that two minutes everyone was in possession of their own balloon.
Finally the teacher said: “Balloons are like happiness. No one will find it by looking for theirs only. Instead, if everyone cares about each other’s happiness they will find theirs too.”
As I look around our district, I see so many instances of ways in which the essence of this illustration is being lived out. There are organised groups doing amazing work, but also individual members of the community being neighbourly, showing loving kindness in simple ways and receiving that same kindness from others. God bless you for the part that you play in this.
It is right that we encourage one another with this kind of living, so here are some words of encouragement that I want to leave with you from the Bible:
Proverbs 14:31 – “Whoever is kind honours God”;
Proverbs 11:25 - “Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered”;
Luke 6:38 - “Give, and you will receive… In Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over. For with the measure you use to give it will be measured back to you.”
If you are looking for your balloon and as yet no one else has picked it
up (in other words, if you are needing help) please reach out to one of the churches as there are people waiting and willing to share with you the love that God has, not just for some, but for everyone!