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It is good to share good news with your family and friends; hey, often we will burst out with good news in the presence of absolute strangers. Do we share often enough? I am not suggesting that we all post sensitive details of our lives on social media that tip off the burglars. I recommend we use opportunities to share what works in our lives.
What secrets do we hold about food? Where is the best place to shop for which things? What foods are in season that we rarely use? Fall squashes, root vegetables and the last of the green tomatoes may be items now. Here in Appalachia, we have a history of surviving on the foods available. Do you have a good recipe? Share it, and share tips about selecting, storing and preparing foods that are nourishing and available.
Finances are a mystery to many people. Do you manage to have a few dollars left at the end of the pay period? There's probably a discipline you use to make it happen. Someone around you may need a clue or two about shopping, banking and evaluating purchases. We are not born knowing these things. Learning these skills entirely through trial and error is often hard and expensive! Be available to teach budgeting, suggest your financial institution, or help format the decision process for them. When we learn to manage our resources, we can better assist others.
Automobiles and their care present some challenges. Most of us have learned to check the engine oil BEFORE the little red oil can icon lights up on the dash. I have seen a recent notice that some new vehicles will prompt for oil additions before the level is dangerously low, but most cars still need to be checked after a few fuel stops. Offer that advice at the gas pump. It may seem weird for a time or two, but do it with a smile and the day will seem brighter. During one of the episodes of I-79 tearing up tires, I came upon a car with a flat front tire. Someone else had stopped to assist, but there seemed to be a difficulty. I pulled off in front and walked back. The problem was described as "The lug wrench doesn't fit the lug nut." My immediate response was, "It's in the glove box." What’s in the glove box is wrapped in a bit of foam to keep it quiet, but it’s the security key adapter.
Keeping house is not easy for everyone. It is one of the things that builds on where you come from. Whether mom or dad did things well, badly, or not at all shapes the skillset we arrive with in our first home or apartment. It may surprise someone to learn that a vacuum cleaner needs emptying. Or that the garbage disposal is for food scraps, not cans or bottles.
These are just a few examples of the opportunities we face every day. How may we know who or how we may help? Seeing people is an important step. Seeing them where and how they are is not seeing them as you think they should be. To see a person, places a demand on us to learn more about them. The location we share at any moment is not the sum of our journeys. We each arrived by a different path, and our interaction changes each of us.
Listening bridges the gap between two sets of experience. To hear the words that reveal the hopes and desires of another may shed a glimmer of understanding of their path and allow us to see the path forward for us, collaboratively, productively, instead of steering them into "the right path" according to our lights.
Be supportive whenever possible instead of "taking care of." Coach and instruct more often than dictate.
When in doubt, consider your "why." The best answer to "why" is for love. The New Testament's Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians, had this to say about love: "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres" (1 Corinthians 13, New International Version).
Sharing is inherently reciprocal! When we share of ourselves and what we have or know, we gain a little bit. We do not lose; we gain. There is some magic in it, with more than a little synergy. Sharing defies the zero-sum game with a positive-sum result; sharing makes more than there was to start with.
Share something with someone today, tomorrow and the next day. The world around you will change.
Pastor Stephen Prince serves the Mountaineer United Methodist Charge of Morgantown. He is appointed in the United Methodist Church and writes as part of the Morgantown Faith Leaders Network.