Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others,
as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 1 Peter 4:10 (TNIV)
On October 27th, 2011 I participated in a Habitat for Humanity “Faith Leaders Build” here in Scarborough. There are two comments that I wish to share about this event.
First of all, the participants were men and women; Christian, Jewish and Muslim; and a rainbow of the palate of human skin colours. This testifies to the goodness in humanity, rather than the divisiveness that the media seem to portray as the human condition.
My second reflection is that everyone was dedicated to serving someone else – not their own needs. Through this giving of ones-self, a family who we may never know will have opportunities for a better life, and we will all benefit from a more abundant society. This is because safe, affordable housing is key to transforming the lives of people who live on the margins of society. It provides a foundation for the building of a new life. That’s what the congregation of Newtonbrook United Church has seen happening at Lester B. Pearson Place in Willowdale.
Serving others is a spiritual practice.
“Those who look intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continue in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.” James 1:25
allanbaker 