Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but
with actions and in truth.
Vincent Van Gogh was not always an artist. In fact, he
wanted to be a church pastor and was even sent to the Belgian mining community
of Borinage in 1879. He discovered that the miners there endured deplorable
working conditions and poverty-level wages. Their families were malnourished
and struggled simply to survive. He felt concerned that the small stipend he
received from the church allowed him a moderate life style, which, in contrast
to the poor, seemed unfair.
One cold February evening, while he watched the miners
trudging home, he spotted an old man staggering toward him across the fields,
wrapped in a burlap sack for warmth. Van Gogh immediately laid his own clothing
out on the bed, set aside enough for one change, and determined to give the
rest away. He gave the old man a suit of clothes and he gave his overcoat to a
pregnant woman whose husband had been killed in a mining accident. He lived on
starvation rations and spent his stipend on food for the miners. When children
in one family contracted typhoid fever, though feverish himself, he packed up
his bed and took it to them.
A prosperous family in the community offered him free
room and board. But Van Gogh declined the offer, stating that it was the final
temptation he must reject if he was to faithfully serve his community of poor
miners. He believed that if he wanted them to trust him, he must become one of
them. And if they were to learn of the love of God through him, he must love
them enough to share with them.
He was acutely aware of a wide chasm, which can separate
words and actions. He knew that people's lives often speak louder and clearer
than their words. Maybe it was that same knowledge that led Francis of Assisi
to frequently remind his monks, "Wherever you go, preach. Use words if necessary."
Today, others will be "listening" carefully to
your actions. Do your actions bring others to Christ?
Dear Lord, we pray today that everything we do will be
the words that those around us need to bring them to You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
