consistent compassion

This picture is from last year, but the Jewel food store in Bolingbrook is once again donating a bunch of complete meals. My wife and I have the pleasure of passing these along to people who need a little help.

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These are hard times for a lot of us, but it is great to see people exercise kindness on a regular basis and show compassion in a bunch of different ways. We see donations from KFC, Olive Garden, Panera, Red Lobster, Pizza Hut, Famous Dave's, Chipotle, Longhorn Steak House, and I'm sure I'm forgetting somebody. There are local businesses that donate other items, such as grocery bags and produce bags. There are groups like Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and elementary schools that have taken special collections. Lots of anonymous donations fund the purchase of regular stock from the Northern Illinois Food Bank.

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I am especially thankful for the regular volunteers who give up their time week after week and do their work in such a way that our guest are not compromised of basic human dignity. We typically serve 65 families every week.

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There are other food pantries and other organizations that serve in similar ways, and it is cool to see what goes into these acts of compassion and to learn how people are motivated to such things. Ultimately, the motivation comes from the same source as the provision. And that source is so great that it (he) eclipses the channels. That is truly something to be thankful for.

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Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

-James 1:17

collage barrage

Here's a neat little experiment. First, you go around, taking pictures of the unique trinkets people use to personalize their cubicles and work spaces. Next, you post a collage with numbered blanks underneath. My collages were done in sets of nine, so that the pictures could easily be seen. And then one-by-one, I'd post these in the break room. It was cool to see people guessing where or who's desk the items could be found. In all, I posted seven pages.

jenga

There is a game in which you begin with a tower of wooden blocks. One-by-one, a piece is removed, until it falls apart. Clearly, some of the components are expendable. What if this game could be played with churches? You pick a community and begin removing churches one-by-one making it unstable. Finally, you remove one that was so critically important that the whole community feels the crashing effect from losing that important piece. This is not a fun game, but it may be a useful diagnostic. How critical is your church to your community?Let’s take this one step farther. What will happen if you-yourself are removed from your neighborhood? Will they sense a gaping hole and mourn their loss? God has planted you there, and you have a purpose. If you are being all that you were made to be, it should make a difference. Now, I don’t want you obsessing over a sinful pursuit of significance, but as we honestly strive to be salt and light, as we seek to fill the needs of our community and maximize every opportunity to make Jesus famous, we should so impact our world that it just would not be the same without us. That’s what will happen when you crave living for and like Christ. (The foundational idea for this post (like many others) is based on a line I heard from one of my pastor's sermons. But I do not plan to mention it every time I glean a concept from him. In fact, there may be times when he looks at my ramblings and says, "That's not where I intended to go with that.")