Is It Mine To Do?

With so much going on in Texas, where do we focus our attention? Where do we offer our support? How can we realistically respond to another heartbreaking challenge confronting us? How do we make sense of the thousands newly homeless and still deal with the racism, affordable housing, sanctuary cities, women’s rights and legislative issues that abound?

Beginning this past January with the Women’s March on Austin, Eremos has been inviting people to ponder the question: “What is mine to do?” That question continues to echo as I sit with all that is currently happening.

My heart agonizes at the images of people walking through contaminated water infested with rodents and reptiles.  At the same time, I feel a burst of gratitude for all of the rescuers who have left homes, families and work to be instruments of care and safety.

Nursing homes and hospitals are opening their doors to the elderly and ill people.

Strangers are bringing trucks, tractors, boats and themselves to help rescue people stranded by the rising water from the hurricane flooding.

And in the midst of it, people continue to gather in homes for “Courageous Conversations” about racism, immigration, and other pressing issues of our time.

These times call for a generous spirit of love expressed through action.  What Spirit calls us to do is different for each one of us. Once discerned, we need to trust that we are doing what we can do and know that it is Enough.

May we continue to respond to the needs of our time with love, rather than duty or obligation. A rescued woman said through her tears, “Thank you God for sending help my way”. May we all realize in the actions we take to serve that we are, as St. Theresa of Avila has stated, “the hands, the feet, the heart of God in our world.”