“I told him”, said my friend, “that he needs to think less about himself and more about the people around him who love him”. “I told him”, said my friend, “that he needs to consider the impact of his decision on those closest to him—that his actions have to be less about him and more about others”. In that gentle, yet clear transaction, my friend prevented a suicide. He saved a life and kept a whole community of loving people away from unimaginable trauma and loss.
I’m still thinking about that conversation—a conversation offered in a very quiet and unassuming way. And I thought, this is what faith looks like. As Lillian Daniel makes so very clear, “Faith is not all about us”. It’s much wider, deeper and higher than any one of us, or all of us together. Faith invites us to service within a purpose much greater than ourselves. Many of us may pray at meal time something like these well known words: “Bless O Lord this food to our use, and us in thy service and, keep us ever mindful of the needs of others. Amen”. This grace before meals has stayed with me through the years. It has engrained within me a sense of mindfulness that helps me remember to keep the needs of others close to me, lest I get seduced into thinking that life, the universe and everything is all about me.