Dana Reardon - Tsunami draws God's family together

Tsunami draws God's family together

I write an extra letter today partly to give voice to my own growing feeling of helplessness. The death toll from the tsunami rises almost as fast as the waters did and as they recede the devastation and threat of waterborne diseases comes as the next wave.

But as I sit here and think how helpless I feel I realize that we are already doing something. The money I sent to Lutheran World Hunger in thanks for my wedding and the money that the Bunch of Guys raised for Christmas are being put to work in the task of meeting real human need.

As one small person there is not much I can do and even as one small church. But that is why we have been working together for so many years to meet needs great and small.

When the need gets very great sometimes we need to reach a little deeper into our pockets and maybe rethink how much we can afford. I know that if my family were involved I would send every penny. So how much do I send because it is someone's family? How much do we send because we are the family of God?

As I write and think on these things my despair turns to hope and to faith as I realize that God is already there and so are we.

Lord, We entrust all who suffer into your care. Help us to be your hands in this work in this world. Amen

The Rev. Dana Reardon is pastor at St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church, Warwick, RI. A lifelong Lutheran, she came to ordained ministry after 21 years in nursing, mostly in pediatric intensive care. She graduated from Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia in 1998 and served 4 ½ years in Upstate New York before becoming a New Englander. She is still trying to understand the accent. While in the Upstate New York Synod she chaired the Stewardship Team. That began her fascination with what makes stewards -- and more, what makes for generosity. She has three amazing daughters: Pastor Reardon says much of what she knows of life she learned from them.