Pat McMahon, a talk-show host in Phoenix, once interviewed Mother Teresa for his program. He was so impressed with her that afterward he told her that he wanted to do something for her. "I'd just like to help you in some way," he said.

She said to him, "Tomorrow morning get up at 4:00 a.m. and go out onto the streets of Phoenix. Find someone who lives there and believes that he's alone, and convince him he's not."

Kind of a subtle, godly, "in your face"!

Makes me feel guilty.

Yet sometimes we need that kind of guilt to prompt us to look around us and see those who are hurting and lonely and in need.

We don't have to venture into the inner-city during the early hours of the morning (although that's great) to find those who believe they are alone. You and I see them everyday. You attended church with some of them last Sunday.

Some of them live next door, or work in your building. The world is full of people who have lost all meaningful connection with others, and who now, convinced they are alone, live empty and isolated lives.

It is up to you and I to make a difference.

In Mark 2, there's this great story about Jesus preaching in a crowded room. A paralyzed man is brought to him, and when his friends can't get him through the door, they climb the house, make an opening in the roof above Jesus and lower their friend down. Mark writes...

When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven." (Mark 2:5)

The man was healed that day, and his sins were forgiven, because first his friends cared enough to show him that he is not alone. It was their faith, and their faithfulness, that brought a miracle into this man's life.

Look around you. Someone nearby believes that they are alone. They need someone who can help carry them at least part of the way to wholeness. It could be you that gets them there.