I work in an inner-city community health center, serving the needy in our neighborhood.
The center can be a harsh environment, but even here, a person can find pockets of beauty. One spring, one of the physicians and I planted wildflowers outside the large window of our conference room. We placed two feeders in the flowerbed—one with sunflower seeds for birds and another for hummingbirds. Immediately, sparrows found the sunflower seeds and devoured them. However, no hummers visited our feeder, although I patiently kept replacing the hummingbird food.
One morning, before an early meeting, I refilled the feeder with fresh sugar water. Was I crazy to keep putting out food? I wondered if any hummingbirds lived in the city anyway. But as I sat, I saw something darting about out of the corner of my eye. Could it be true? At last, a hummingbird found the food I had faithfully supplied all summer. I hoped more would follow.
I couldn’t help but see the analogy to our work in our health ministry. We reach out daily, offering our skills to improve the well-being of our patients. Like the hummingbirds, many barriers prevent people from finding and accepting our care. However, when we help one person, they tell others, and eventually, we change whole communities.
Think of some ways you can reach out to help others.
(Photo courtesy of pixabay and geralt.)
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Suzanne Montgomery is a writer.