Galatians 6:2 (CEB)

2 Carry each other’s burdens and so you will fulfill the law of Christ. 

Reflection

I once came across a mug that said, “Drink all the coffee you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can…” and so forth. It’s a play on a quote often attributed to Methodism’s founder, John Wesley, “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.” Whether or not he ever actually said that isn’t the point, it speaks to the Methodist Spirit of doing good.

Whether it’s the United Women in Faith (formerly known as the United Methodist Women) or the United Methodist Committee on Relief (also known as UMCOR), or everything in between, having a positive social impact remains a top priority in the United Methodist Church (UMC). It can feel like there’s no rock left unturned: Gender and racial equality, disaster relief, food justice, climate justice, education, are just a few of the many areas that the UMC has put strong efforts toward. My guess is that if it’s a cause close to your heart, you can find a way the Methodist Church is working on that cause.

When we look at today’s text from Galatians, we feel the biblical call that that spirit comes from: this acknowledgement that there are people in the world that need our help, that though God loves everyone equally – we all live very different lives with varying types of chaos, that in Christ – we are called into community with others so that the heaviness of life does not have to be faced in a silo.

So let’s “drink all the coffee you can” and get to work!

by Rachel Callender

For Pondering & Prayer

Is there an area of service that you feel drawn toward? Maybe it’s homelessness or prison ministry or something else. Is there a story as to why that pulls on your heart strings? What can you do to live out that call?

Prayer: Holy God, You have placed a call on our hearts to live our faith out in the world. Guide us so that all Your children may know Your love. Amen.