Thank You For Being His Hands and Feet

“Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.” ~St. Teresa of Avila

Last week on Facebook, I posted a status asking if anyone would help me with a card campaign for my friend who has been in jail since December.  He'll get out at the end of the month and I figured the last two weeks of his stay would go faster if he got a lot of mail each day.  I was hoping that a couple people would volunteer.

I was overwhelmed. I had 23 people offer to send cards. 23 people and not one of them had ever met my friend. People who I haven't even seen or heard from in years responded immediately.  People who I have met only a handful of times were willing to help.  They expected nothing in return but were willing to do what they could to help.  People who did not question or judge or condemn.

It's easy to get cynical about the state of the world.  We hear bad things every day.  People acting hateful, people being prejudice, people treating each other badly.  It's disheartening.

But I'm here to tell you that is not the only part of the story.  There are still good people out there.  Kind, caring, awesome people who will take the time to encourage another person in need.  I know that we're just talking about sending a little note here, but I can assure you that to my friend and to me it was so much more than that.

We're called to love.  We're called to be Jesus' hands and feet.  These people did just that.  For them, for their gesture, for their example, I am forever grateful.