Chicken Soup

Yesterday I felt a cold coming on. My body ached and I seemed to be dragging my feet a bit. In the midst of that all I could think of was homemade chicken soup! In our family homemade chicken soup has been comfort food and medicine for an ailing body. My daughter, Terri, says that it heals everything. The soup is very basic and simple. Now we all know that chicken soup does not hold any magical healing properties. So what is it that makes a difference? I think that it is because it is basic and simple and filled with love!

Basic and Simple

Then I began to think about Jesus and what he did when he walked among us. Some think that what he did was complicated and grand but if we look carefully I would suggest that what he did was basic and simple and filled with love.

Talk and Listen

He took the time to talk and listen to everyone who crossed his path –

the woman at the well;
Nicodemus;
the religious leaders;
Mary and Martha –

and in doing so he communicated love, care and acceptance.

Touch

He physically touched people –

the leper;
the man born blind;
Peter’s mother-in-law;
the woman with the hemorrhage –

and in doing so communicated compassion and brought healing and hope.

Share

He sat at table and shared the bread of life –

Zacchaeus;
the disciples;
Mary, Martha and Lazarus;
Levi the tax collector;
the Pharisees;
not to mention the 5000 on the mountain side –

and in doing so he communicated a sense of family and inclusion and broke down barriers.

It’s not grand gestures or complicated things that make a difference. It is

taking the time to sit and listen and simply live a ministry of presence;
offering a hug or a shoulder to cry on;
smiling at a stranger; or
sharing in a pot of chicken soup –

these are the things that matter and can turn darkness into light, sorrow into joy, and exclusion into inclusion.

So today, take a moment to listen, touch and sit at a table with another – the simple and basic things of life – and in doing so change the world.

Blessings
Valerie