This morning I read a beautiful story of a person who responded to a call in the airport for a distraught woman who could not speak English. The airline asked for someone to come who spoke this language and she made it her business to come. When the crying woman heard her native language spoke, visible relief transformed her countenance when she realized she had not missed her flight. She had major surgery scheduled for the next day. We can tend to say, “it’s none of my business” when we see a situation. Thankfully, the rescuer “made it her business”. To add to the sweet story, the rescuer gave her phone to the woman to phone her family to confirm they would be on the other end to pick her up. When the panic was subsided, the elderly woman pulled a sack of homemade donuts out of her bag and began to share them with all the women around her. Not one declined. A little girl came to hold her hand and a community was built. This circle of community was born with a simple act of “making it her business” to come and help a fellow human being in need. I am smiling, are you?
How often do we see a situation where there is distress? The first thought can tend to be, “it’s none of my business”. Why isn’t it our business? I know I can certainly make it “my business” when someone gets up in my grill and I want to let them know about it. How about less of that and more of this. We are human beings with the purpose to care for one another as we love Jesus in wholeness. One afternoon, Kevin and I were driving home from the grocery store many years ago, before we had children. It was pouring rain and there was an elderly woman pushing a cart with a couple of grocery bags up a hill. We stopped to ask if we could give her a ride. It was evident she wanted a ride, yet the fear of strangers overtook her. I managed to convince her that we were safe, and we loaded her groceries into our car and drove her to her house. Kevin loaded her groceries onto her porch, and we bid our goodbyes. He would have taken them in to put them away for her too, but her comfort level had already been stretched. While sad that she felt this fear, we were glad to be able to help her to this measure. We “made it our business”.
This has become a reflex. Yes, sometimes there is a refusal of the help offered but even then, I think there is a small restoration in the heart of a person when the offer is there. Something in the faith of the goodness of humanity is restored when we “make it our business” and reach out to care for each other. This week, I felt helpless to care for our daughter all the way in Toronto. She has no vehicle and needs a table/chairs and a place to put her clothes. I reached out to someone I only know in name and is a sister of a dear friend of ours. She responded with such grace and kindness, willing to help. It brought me to tears of thankfulness. She “made it her business” and it blessed my heart. Here, we have the privilege of being a “home away from home” for a few university students because we “made it our business” for students who are missing their home and not feeling connected. I cannot even count how many times someone has “made it their business” to come alongside our family in the last two years after Kevin’s stroke Next time we see a person struggling, step over that barricade of awkwardness to get to a place where help is extended. This is the kind of world I want to live in – where we care for one another as we would want to be cared for. Now let’s imagine our place in it. There is always room for generosity; for that posture of hospitality which welcomes those around us. We welcome them to our heart, and we create a space in our lives for others. The kind of world I want to pass on to my children and grandchildren is one where people look hard into the eyes of the other and see the very face of God. We are made in His image and He is love – let’s show the world the beauty of that Love.
The Hospitality Project 
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