A FAMILY I KNOW was waiting to adopt when the baby was born—very, very early. Baby Lucy is unbelievably tiny, but she’s one tough little cookie. I think she’s going to be fine.
The thing is, the hospital where she’s going to be staying for some time is far away from her new family’s home, and it’s a real juggling act for her everyone concerned. Mom and Dad are taking turns staying with Lucy in the hospital, with the other parent at home with Lucy’s big brother. Relatives, friends, neighbors, parishioners: Everyone’s helping take good care of the family in this new stage of their life together. They say it takes a village — but you know what else? It takes a church. It’s what we do. It’s what we’ve always done.
They say it takes a village — but you know what else? It takes a church. It’s what we do. It’s what we’ve always done.
See how Christians love one another
Way back in the early days of the church, way back in the second century, Christians were already famous for taking good care of people. In about the year 197, the North African scholar Tertullian wrote that his pagan neighbors were astonished: See how these Christians love one another! And not only one another wrote other early Christians: They take good care of anyone who needs it. One modern scholar of the early Christian era reports that towns with a solid Christian presence had a much better survival rate during the plagues that regularly broke out because the Christians took good care of people when they needed it.
It’s what we do. It’s what we’ve always done. It’s how we act on what Jesus taught us. The way we take good care of people when they need it — whether it’s organizing a casserole and carpool brigade for a family with a new baby or raising money for solar power for hospitals in Liberia — that’s the church at its best.
Women of the ELCA does that. We take good care of people through our health initiatives, through our work against human trafficking, and so much more. We work to bring about healing and wholeness in the church, the society and the world — which is a fancy way of saying we take good care of people. It’s what we do. It’s what we’ve always done.
Amen.
Audrey Novak Riley is director for stewardship for Women of the ELCA. Photo by Karine | CC BY 2.0
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P.O. Box 1809
Merrifield, VA 22116-8009
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Amen, Audrey Riley!