God's Work

God’s Work

I witnessed people doing God’s work yesterday.

I was visiting an organization that takes care of the severely mentally challenged. When I walked in, I felt like I was entering the set of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. Only it was far more chaotic, with dozens of patients sitting and wandering about the room. Several of the patients acknowledged me, a couple with incoherent mumblings, others with close-faced stares, peering at me like I was some fish in a tank.

I was struck by the awful cruelties in life, where some of us are given healthy bodies and minds, while others must toil with enormous handicaps. Or, where some of us are raised in idyllic conditions, while others are forced to endure the unthinkable. My senses felt assaulted, partly because I wasn’t prepared for the random chaos, but also because this is a part of society that is kept hidden away in places like this. It made me stop and give thanks for my own gifts, and pray for others like this, that they always know comfort.

I was awed by the young women tending to these unfortunate patients. They were gentle and kind, herding the group like innocent lambs, with the delicate care of shepherds. These young women were doing God’s work and doing with a grace that I don’t think I could summon.

Today I give a shout-out to all of those who care for others, in places like this, and everywhere else that people have suffered setbacks and need help. You bring much to our society, for little pay and even less praise or acknowledgment. But your contribution to our society is immense and not unnoticed, at least by me.