“Thank You For Caring”
Some who read this know that I serve as one of the elders for the Central church of Christ in Paducah, Kentucky. It is not my intention here to discuss all of the responsibilities that come with serving in that capacity. All I will say at this point is that, in my opinion, one aspect of that work has been somewhat minimized in some places at times. (Please notice what I have emphasized. I have a lot of experience with having opinions that may not be accurate.)
It probably will come as no surprise to learn that I, my fellow elders at Central, and elders just about everywhere have struggled for about sixteen months with trying to keep our members informed and “connected” in some way. Social media, writing notes, phone calls, and other things have been helpful, but absolutely nothing can adequately replace “in person” worship, conversations, and other forms of interaction.
Lately things are somewhat “opening up.” Our congregation is almost back to normal in terms of worship services, Bible classes, and even a few opportunities for somewhat limited fellowship. Sadly, we are not back to normal in terms of the number of people taking advantage of those opportunities. We have some members whom we have not seen in months. There are some whom we have not seen in more than a year.
In the interest of being totally accurate, we have not seen some of our members at our church building in a long time. I’ve seen some of them at grocery stores and other places. Before I limited the people I follow on Facebook to my family, I saw pictures of them at zoos, amusement parks, and other places where there are large numbers of people. I fully understand that I am not qualified or have any desire to judge their decisions and/or actions, but I do have difficulty understanding some of them.
From time-to-time, I’ve been texting, writing notes, and calling some of the people we are missing, but, for a variety of reasons, I recently decided to forego the less personal of these options and to call them. I didn’t call every member. The calls were made to those who have not been with us for the longest period of time.
I found out some interesting things during those calls. In some instances, I found out about issues other than the virus or fears about the virus that some people are dealing with. In others, I learned a little about what might be called “family dynamics.”
What, to me, was the important thing I learned really had nothing (or little) to do with Covid, attendance, or anything that is related to some of that. I learned another “life lesson.” It seems that I’m learning a lot of them these days.
After one long and pleasant phone call, the person “signed off” with a statement I hope I never forget. Just before the goodby, I was told, “Thanks for caring.”
All of us have probably heard the statement that goes something like this: “People don’t care how much you know unless they know how much you care.” I believe that statement to be accurate.
I think that my recent experience has helped me to come up with another statement. Hopefully, it is more than a statement. Hopefully, it will become more of a way of life for me (and maybe others).
People don’t know how much you care unless you do something to demonstrate that you do.
To Receive Every Article from A Legacy of Faith through Email for Free, Click Here
AUTHOR: Jim Faughn
