The Action of One Person

What difference can I make?

I came across this trailer called Drop Box. Not the “Dropbox” of cloud storage but the Drop Box to leave abandoned babies. It’s a harsh reality but unfortunately it’s real.

It’s worth taking a look at the trailer.

The fact is, there will always be people in need. For example, we may not need help now but it’s implicit in our relationship with others that if we did, we could count on them to help us.

We all see others. We all see the needs of others. It takes less than a second for us to form an opinion of others.

“Within the first seven seconds of meeting, people will have a solid impression of who you are — and some research suggests a tenth of a second is all it takes to start determining traits like trustworthiness.” (Forbes)

So many people see the needs of others, but only a few, perhaps very few, decide to do something about it.

Jacques Philippe - a well known Catholic writer - makes this distinction:

“In problematic circumstances, progress lies in hearing the calls that are being addressed to us. One must pass from “What do I want from life?” to “What does life want from me?” Or, sometimes from “What do I expect from those around me?” to “What do those around me expect from me?”

When we flip the pancake and look at our life this way: that it has a purpose, that we are here for others then even small and seemingly insignificant acts of kindness will make a difference to someone.

Are we willing to hear “the calls that are being addressed to us” every day? Once we respond to those calls, our life does make that difference.