The gift of hope passes from hand to hand, like a baton. We’re all in this together. Meeting the needs of others is humbling. And I think Albert Einstein had it right when he said, ‘The only life worth living is a life lived in service to others.’ May God bless you, and the people we serve.
With all my love,
Danielle Steel
A Gift of Hope
Helping the Homeless
A man named Joe was walking down the street and fell into a manhole. There was no obvious way out – no ladder, no rope, no handhold – the only thing he could do was shout for help. As he yelled, “Help! I’m stuck down here!” A doctor walked by and said, “Sorry, I’m too busy, but here’s a prescription,” and a slip of paper floated down to the man – a prescription for anti-anxiety meds.
Joe asked the doctor if he had a pill for hope. “No, we don’t have a pill for hope”.
But the doctor stated he would be back this way once a month to check on him. He predicted that Joe would probably be suffering from depression and high blood pressure by the next visit and would need additional Rx’s.
Next, a priest walked by. “Father, can you help me get out of here?” Joe shouted.
“No, my son,” the priest replied. “I’m on my way to church, but I’ll light a candle for you when I get there.”
Then a church official walked by and could hear Joe yelling for help. “I’ll help you out but you must first sign a piece of paper stating you don’t smoke, drink or have a significant other of the same sex.” The church official noticed the rainbow flag on Joe’s coat and just smiled and walked away.
There were several others that just walked on by that day and pretended not to hear Joe as they didn’t want to get their hands dirty. One person had just finished giving a lecture on helping others at the local library. But she walked on by because the man was a Samaritan and she a jew and they’re were no dealings between them.
So Joe finally just decided to pray and see what happens.
Thus the next person to walk by was The Prodigal Son. “Hey! I’m stuck down here and I need your help” yelled Joe. The next thing he knew, the Prodigal Son had jumped down into the hole with him. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?! Joe asked. “Now we’re BOTH stuck down here!” The Prodigal Son smiled and said, “Yeah, we are. But I’ve been here before and I know the way out. Come on, follow me.”
Joe asked, “Is it true you left to squander your father’s money?”
“No. I left because I was was treated poorly by my family because I too wore a rainbow flag on my coat. And I could not have learned those lessons in my father’s house.”
“Hmmm”, said Joe. “But the story said that your father was happy to see you and ran after you when you returned home.”
The Prodigal Son replied, “The Father, the story refers to, is not my human father but Father-Mother God. You see even though we may be different we are still our Father’s treasure who will always welcome us home and love us unconditionally. This is the Truth.”
“I understand now,” said Joe. “But, what do I do with what I have learned here today?”
“Perhaps you could help others because now you understand ?!”
