I live in a beach house on the Caribbean coast of Honduras. It has a large terrace over looking the beach neatly fitted with hammocks and whicker chairs.
I like to sit in one of the hammocks in the corner and watch the beach. It’s usually empty with a few people walking a past every now and again. Sometimes their are canoes scattered across the beach from the men who take them out fishing.
I can watch these men take their canoes out into the deep and fill their buckets up with fresh fish. They can bring in everything from fish to lobster to sting rays. They paddle their canoes back in over the gentle Caribean waters to bring their catch back to shore.
When their boats hit the shore they have to drag them up the sand past the waves. I’ve seen them land many many times. Some come in side ways and others straight and some come in almost washed out.
When they hit the shore they jump out and grab the back of the boat and push. Usually, before they are even out of their boat there are two other men but the boat. One in the front and one at the side. Together, these men push the boat up the shore and out of harms way by rolling it over a log.
But where did these other two men come from? There was no one in sight for some ways before the boat landed and then they were there to help this man out.
I’ve come to realize these men could have come from anywhere. Some where with their families on the beach out of sight and some were in their homes and saw him come in and some where doing other things. These men saw their neighbor in need of help and dropped what they were doing to lend him a hand.
The people here notice their neighbors and help them out when they need it. It’s a way of life here that isn’t a part of life at home.
What would happen if we, as Christians, saw someone who needed help and helped them? What would happen if we helped our neighbor move into their house, mowed their lawn while they were out of town, or helped their kid when he fell off his bike? What would happen in our communities if we saw a need and filled it out of generosity and love for our neighbors?
How much could we change our communities by simply noticing people and coming out of no where to lend a helping hand?
