Bringing People Together

“Come on people, now
Smile on your brother;
Everybody get together,
Try to love one another right now.”

So went one of the more popular songs of the 1960s, a song that still plays often on “Oldies but Goodies” stations. Note the sentiment of the song; that if people will just love, they will be drawn together. While that may seem to be a great thought, it seems to fall short of reality.

What most often draws people together? Tragedy. Most of the time, we see the news stories of horrific tragedy and, almost immediately, we are inundated with stories of people helping people. Race and gender issues are pushed aside, as are many other things. We see our fellow man in need, so we rush to his aid.

While that is commendable, there is a part of it that is sad. It is sad that, many times, the only time some people help other people is when a tragedy strikes. Many have lost the ability to seek out opportunities to aid others (or we have chosen to lose that ability).

Even more tragic, however, may be the fact that many of us wait until a tragedy strikes to remember how to use a phrase that is missed in our society so often. It is a phrase that we were all taught to say as children, but we sometimes get “too busy” to use it. The phrase? “Thank you.”

Standing in line at the visitation service for my grandfather, I was embarrassed. Scores of people came by who had helped grandpa and, therefore, the rest of us over the past few weeks. They had brought food, sent cards and flowers, sat with grandpa in the hospital, made phone calls and–most importantly–prayed fervently for the best (whatever it was) to happen. So why was I embarrassed? Because it took my grandfather’s passing for me to express my thanks to them! I had the time to make a phone call or send a card to them, thanking them for their help, but I didn’t take the time.

Maybe there’s another spiritual lesson for us in this. Each Sunday Christians gather to remember the tragic death of Jesus Christ. We usually focus on the suffering and bleeding on the cruel cross. Question: do we ever take the time say “thank you” to our Lord during this time? I’ve heard several people say, “I can’t wait until I get to Heaven so I can tell Jesus ‘thank you’.” While I understand the sentiment behind that statement, why wait until then to tell Him that? We have the opportunity each and every day to say “thank you” to Him, but do we ever take the time to do so? We should not wait until we are remembering the tragedy of His death! Take time every day to thank God, and seek opportunities to tell others “thank you.”