Look into the eyes of the one who suffers
Helping without looking can become a polite way of keeping your distance.
You can help someone and, at the same time, keep them far away inside. You give something, do a favor, resolve paperwork, but you never actually meet the person.
Looking into someone's eyes changes something. It reminds you that you are not dealing with a case, but with a concrete person. You will not always be able to fix their life, but you can keep them from feeling invisible while they suffer.
Christian charity is not just efficiency. It is also presence. Sometimes what sustains a person most is not a perfect phrase, but feeling that someone does not turn away from their pain.
Key idea
Help becomes more human when it recognizes the face of the one who suffers.
Your challenge for this idea
If you help someone today, do it without rushing: look at them, listen, and call them by name if you know it.
BASED ON
Charity →