I'VE COME TO HELP

[Rhonda]

I'VE COME TO HELP

You may remember the old Flip Wilson routine when someone asked the
comic about his religion. He answered, "I am a Jehovah's Bystander."
"A Jehovah's Bystander?" remarked his friend. "I never heard of a
Jehovah's Bystander."

Flip said, "Well, they asked me to be a witness, but I didn't want to
get involved."

In these troubled times, I think Edmund Burke is right. "The only
thing necessary for the triumph of evil," he says, "is for good men to
do nothing."

We can complain about injustices, we can lament the suffering of the
world and even feel sorry for the helpless plight of others. Or we can
do what we can, even if it's only a little.

Theodore Roosevelt read a book by New York newspaperman Jacob Riis
titled HOW THE OTHER HALF LIVES. We often think of the "other half" as
living in luxury. The other half are those who are powdered and
pampered. The rich and famous. Movers and shakers.

But the book did not describe the wealthiest few of society. Instead
it described the slums of the city, with all its vice and crime.
Families living in poverty and fear - too afraid to leave their homes
after dark. The other half, said Riis, were the poor among us.

Theodore Roosevelt was moved to action. He went at once to the
newspaper office where the author worked, but Riis was not in.
Roosevelt left his card and wrote on it, "Have read your book and have
come to help."

He did not say, "Have read your book and have come to discuss." Or,
"Have read your book and have come to compliment you on your writing."
He said, "Have read your book and have come to help."

"I am only one, but I am still one; I cannot do everything, but still
I can do something, and because I cannot do everything I will not
refuse to do the something that I can do." Nineteenth century writer
Edward Everett Hale said that.

He speaks to me today.

-- Steve Goodier
__________

P.S. AIN'T IT SO
Nothing makes you more tolerant of a neighbor's party than being
there. --