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March 28, 2008
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=========================== TODAY'S ARTICLE ==========================
Quality People, by Bill Denton
Everyone gets a turn at crisis. And more than once. The real
question is only this: Who in your life is both capable of and
willing to walk through your crisis with you? In many ways,
your life will be defined by the quality of people who journey
alongside you ("The New Rebellion Handbook," p. 236).
Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress;
My eye is wasted away from grief,
my soul and my body also.
For my life is spent with sorrow
And my years with sighing;
My strength has failed because of my iniquity,
And my body has wasted away (Psalm 31:9-10, NASB).
"Your life will be defined by the quality of people who journey
alongside you." I'm quite sure that isn't totally true, but it's true
enough for us to pay close attention. More than one person has told me,
"I don't know how I would have made it through what happened to me
without the people who love me and care about me." Anybody who has
experienced hard times knows the truth of that statement.
The sad thing is that in our modern times, we've either forgotten or
neglected the importance of our "people connections." I once conducted
the funeral for a man I had never met. He had lived across the street
from one of our church families. At the funeral the only people who
attended were his wife and two grown daughters. This family had lived
in that town for about fifteen years. They attended no church, belonged
to no club, had no friends, and barely knew any of their neighbors. I
don't know why. What I know is that they lived a lonely life, and when
the husband died, if it had not been for the family across the street
that attended our church, there would have been nobody to help the wife
through the ordeal of her husband's death.
Tough times demand lots of people.
Who would help you through a crisis? If you can't put a name to that
question, you're in trouble and may not even know it. But there is a
companion question implied in the broader scope of this discussion. Who
would you help through a crisis? You see, unless we all are willing to
be the one who helps, when it comes our turn to be helped then chances
are there won't be anyone.
Some people have large, close families, but I've noticed that even when
that's the case, in a crisis people yearn for people outside the family
to stand by them. Some people have close friends, a loving church, good
neighbors. Those are all wonderful resources. But the best resources
you'll ever have are those people you stood by during their time of
crisis.
One of the great things about being a Christian and part of a great
church is the call for all of us to be servants. You can't put that
responsibility onto a few people, or even the church staff. It's too
big, too broad, too demanding for a handful of people to deal with.
Tough times demand lots of people, ready to respond, able to help. But
we really need to know that when it comes our turn to deal with a
crisis, it's likely those we've already helped through their own crisis
who will be the first to help us. Are you among the "quality people"
that others need?
---------
(c) 2008 All Rights Reserved. Articles may not be reprinted in
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author. Articles may be freely distributed via e-mail, reprinted
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information intact with copied articles.
RELATED LINKS:
* Resistance is not Futile
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200707/20070726_notfutile.html
* Hard Times!
http://www.heartlight.org/timely_truths/hard_times.html
* Tough Times Toughen
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200611/20061124_toughen.html
* CrossTies
This article can be found on the web at:
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200803/20080328_qualitypeople.html
=========================== FEATURED PRODUCT =========================
THE SECRET MESSAGE OF JESUS: UNCOVERING THE TRUTH THAT COULD CHANGE EVERYTHING, by Brian McLaren
Unafraid of controversy or the uncomfortable gray areas of life,
McLaren's quest is to find the essential message of Jesus' life - even
if it overturns our conventional ideas, priorities, and practices.
http://shopping.heartlight.org/cgi-shl/link?253
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