Did you know that tomorrow is Make A Difference Day? I have to admit, I’d never heard of it. Apparently it was created by USA Weekend magazine as an annual event taking place on the fourth Saturday every October. It’s the “national day to help others.”

Knitting prayer shawls in Pennsylvania.
Lutheran women understand this well. First, we define “neighbor” broadly. When we make a quilt for Lutheran World Relief, we’re caring for a neighbor in Africa or India or some other global place of need. Through the Women of the ELCA grants program we are literally helping neighbors all around the globe. True, we take care of the women in our congregation too, preparing a meal for a family whose lives are turned upside by chemotherapies or death. And we knit and crochet prayer shawls those in our communities who are in need of prayer. So we serve our neighbors, both near and far, those who we know well and those who we will never meet in person.

Tying quilts in Montana.
And I’m only getting started. Garrison Keillor has said that Lutherans are ostentatious in our humility. So, go ahead and brag a little. What is it that you and women in your congregation do to serve your neighbors? I bet whatever it is, it’s not limited to tomorrow.
Linda Post Bushkofsky is executive director of Women of the ELCA.