Touch Lives: Four-time Gammy Award winner andsinger-songwriter ...

Touch Lives: Four-time Gammy Award winner andsinger-songwriter ...: Four-time Gammy Award winner and singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman (b. 1964) makes this observation, “I have seen and met angels wearing th...

Four-time Grammy Award winner and singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman (b. 1964) makes this observation, “I have seen and met angels wearing the disguise of ordinary people living ordinary lives.”

Much can be said about such simplicity. These are the people we may take for granted, not make a fuss about, but they go about their business with an unexplained urgency. Their business is helping people. They are divinely touched and their walk among mortals are viewed as especially special. You can find them feeding the hungry, comforting the poor, clothing the naked, and housing the homeless.

Just regard this quote from Mother Teresa (1910-1997), Blessed of Calcutta, Roman Catholic sister, missionary and 1979 Noble Peace Prize recipient, “We can do no great things – only small things with great love.”

What are small things Mother Teresa has done?

Mother Teresa was known to direct 4,500 sisters in 133 countries. Her Missionary of Charity is still active among the helpless of the world. She herself has been in the Calcutta slums tending to those with HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis. Her missionary has been a place for the least amongst us, while providing soup kitchens, dispensaries, clinics and family counseling, orphanages and schools for the benefit of the poor.

A religious like Mother Teresa has been a beacon amongst us. She herself has shone her light on many of the rejected in India. Adherents of her charity have followed in her footsteps. The need amongst the tens of millions around the globe is still great today. This demand continues to increase yearly as the worldwide population grows at an alarming rate. Geographic areas in India, China and on the continents of Africa and South America are screaming for help.

When are we going to throw off our old skin and put on the new?

Snakes, salamanders and frogs shed their skins regularly. For these species, such shedding is a sign of growth and development. Humans too, do a different kind of shedding. Their shedding is viewed more metaphorically. Some may see this as spiritual growth – changing from the "old you" to a newer spiritual reality. But such an aspect of our life brings vitality that is noticed physically and emotionally. It can also be seen in an awareness of how we interact with the least in our midst. Loving them like our neighbors, living purposely like Mother Teresa, while embracing their families will be a standard of shedding our old selves that many may still to experience.

Some professionals from a cross-section of vocations have taken their calling to help the needy among us. But, are we doing enough? It is a Christian calling to feed the poor, to clothe the naked and to care for the least. This behavior is like taking up a new lifestyle of service and dedication of which there are a few outstanding living examples. It is good to have an outlook like Dr. Jonas Salk (1914-1995), developer of a vaccine against the crippling disease poliomyelitis, or polio, when he says, “I feel the greatest reward for doing is the opportunity to do more.” Dr. Salk was pursuing the goal of finding a vaccination for HIV/AIDS when he died. His life work was a culmination of years of dedication to painstaking research.

Our work in the world calls for a variety of hands at the wheel. Planet earth is crying out in pain. Christians have to pick up their cross and follow Jesus Christ, his apostles and saints. These were all shining lights in a broken world weighed down by abuse, drought, famine and disease. As Americans, we may not be experiencing as many afflictions that some of our earthly brothers in other countries feel, but it is wise for us to always remember the adversities that exist in our fragile ecosystem. Let us give a helping hand when and where we can.