Oh God Help Us!

Oh God, help us remember that the jerk who cut us off in traffic last night is an exausted single mother who worked nine hours that day and is rushing home to cook dinner, help with homework, do the laundry and spend a few precious moments with her children. How can I bless her?

Oh God, that pierced, tattooed, disinterested young cashier who can't make change correctly is a worried 19-year-old college student, balancing his apprehension over final exams with his fear of not getting his student loans for next semester. How can I bless him?

Oh God, that scary looking bum, begging for money in the same spot every day (who really ought to get a job!) is there as a result of abuse and addictions we can only imagine in our worst nightmares. You want to help him, but we remain at a distance. How can I bless him?

Oh God, that old couple walking annoyingly slow through the store aisles and blocking our shopping progress are savoring this moment, knowing that, based on the biopsy report she got back last week, this will be the last year that they go shopping together. How can I bless them?

Oh God, help us to remember, that tho much of the pain and suffering of those around us is not evident to our eyes,
if we look thru Your eyes, we will see them as you do. That the drugs, the addictions, the anger, the frustrations, and the things that make us seem unlovable to one another, are but symptoms of deeper struggles than many of us have ever known.

Oh God, remind us each day that, of all the gifts you give us, the greatest gift is love - and the greatest gift we can give is Your love. Help us to know, is not enough to share that love with those we hold dear. Open our hearts not to just those who are close to us, but to everyone we meet. Let us be slow to judge and quick to forgive, show patience, empathy and love.

Oh God, we point fingers at the weak, when you have asked us to extend our whole hand. You wrote our names on the palm of your hand, will I then come to worship you having nothing to offer in mine?

Oh God, Open our eyes, Open our hearts, but most of all Oh God, help us to open our hands.